Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 1. Prologue

**Okay... Another story, I want to try an AU this time. XDDD I usually stick to canon and never do AU. Not to mention I am stuck after writing Reunion of The Sky CH 5 half way, I need refreshing. I think this one might be better than ROTS, it's just me who think so. I probably will update ROTS next week ^^  
>Aside from Natsuhiko there are no OC that will be important enough to be around for long. Not yet... <strong>

**Yeah I know, Natsuhiko is not a good choice of name for Tsuna's brother since I sometimes write him as Natsu then you might mistake him for Natsu the Lion XD Maybe later I will change his name, maybe Musashi or something that sounds like Tsunayoshi's twin. **

**Disclaimer: KHR is not mine, I only own Natsuhiko**

**fixed by Sailor Dying-Will, thx a lot!  
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><p><strong>Past Prologue: Sky in different axis<strong>

Byakuran, as one of the Skies of the Trinisette, knew for all resemblances they bore, there was one thing that set him apart from Tsunayoshi and Yuni. He had absolutely no qualms about using his power for selfish reasons, not even after Tsunayoshi defeated him and Yuni saved him Byakuran had not lost his mischievousness. As a bearer of the Trinisette they had a very big burden, one that was almost impossible to bear on their young shoulders. His insanity and God complex was undeniable proof, he sometimes wondered how Yuni-chan and Tsunayoshi-kun could stay sane and bear said burden with pride. While he had no wish for world domination anymore Byakuran thought they had privileges to abuse their power at least a little.

So when Byakuran came across knowledge of one parallel world he couldn't resist abusing his power _a little_, or so he thought. Of course he was careful and weighted the pros and cons of doing this, he was sure this was harmless and if anything Tsunayoshi-kun should be grateful. On second thought, Tsunayoshi-kun didn't even have to know and Yuni wouldn't know either, it would be his little secret with…

"NO!"

Byakuran pouted, "Why not Shou-chan? Think of how interesting this project would be!"

Shoichi had to admit his scientist's sense was tingling and he was very tempted to accept the offer just for the sake of science alone. He had to remind himself how that might upset the balance of the parallel world, or how it might start the Trinisette policy all over again. "No means no Byakuran-san."

The white haired Mafia Boss huffed, "I assure you it's safe! No harm done to anyone! If anything… I am helping Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"A help he's never needed." Shoichi pointed out, ignoring the hurtful look Byakuran shot at him. "Anyway… Tsunayoshi-kun is my boss, he will not be pleased if I do this kind of experiment behind his back!"

"But Shou-chan!" Byakuran whined, "Think about it! The possibility! The new discovery!" He smirked when he saw Shoichi's eyes light up with a visible lump in his throat, "I am sure you will not be in any trouble with Tsunayoshi-kun! He is too kind and gentle!" Byakuran gushed out.

Shoichi rolled his eyes, "This coming from someone who got beaten mercilessly after he pissed off said kind and gentle man?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Byakuran ignored that comment, "So…?"

"NO!" Shoichi refused firmly.

Unfortunately, Byakuran was very persistent about his grand plan, and he was also very persuasive. Irie Shoichi questioned himself for the thousandth time just what possessed him to be Byakuran Gesso's best friend, said best friend who had no qualms blackmailing him to get him to cooperate. Shoichi would forever regret letting his curiosity and teenage whim eat at him, how Byakuran got that photo of when he was dressed in a visual kei costume was beyond him. He would be damned if he let that photo go out on the black market though, he had a reputation as Vongola's strategist to uphold.

Damn Byakuran…

It was easy enough to get Tsuna to lend him his rings for a couple of hours; his Guardians were another matter entirely. It was easy to get Gokudera's belt buckle and Yamamoto's necklace because they would never say no when Tsuna himself asked them to, Lambo was also easily separated from his helmet when bribed with sweets, Ryohei's bangle was slightly difficult to get but as long as you were patient enough to wait for him to finish his extreme rant he was a very agreeable person, the last two Guardians though… Shoichi had to resort to extreme bribing for Hibari, he promised the man an upgraded training room and tonfas and even then Hibari was still glowering at him when the Cloud Guardian reluctantly handed his bracelet to Shoichi. And Mukuro… thankfully the Mist Guardians were taking turns wearing their earring every day, so Shoichi could easily borrow it when it was Chrome's turn.

Shoichi only hoped this experiment was as harmless as Byakuran said, Tsuna was very kind, no doubt about it, but not really someone you should cross. He was still a Mafia Boss, after all, and pissing him off meant you had a death wish.

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><p><strong><em>Past (Sawada Tsunayoshi 10 yrs old)<em>**

Sawada Tsunayoshi watched as his mother gave a sad smile as she answered his father through the phone. "So you can't make it this year, Dear?" Nana asked with a faked cheerful tone, Tsuna absently wondered how many times his kind mother faked her cheery demeanor in front of his father. Sawada Iemitsu was rarely home and even if he was, it would be for just a few days and only months later did he return. This year too, his father had business to attend to and couldn't be home for their wedding anniversary. What was more important than their anniversary? Tsuna didn't want to know. It pained him to know his father had something he prioritized more than his family.

"How about Natsuhiko?" A pause, and the downhearted look his mother had spoke thousands of words. "Oh… Tsuna and I will miss him." Sawada Natsuhiko was Tsuna's younger fraternal twin. Natsuhiko looked like their father's copy with their mother's coloring. Tsuna never understood why his younger twin had to stay with his father, but it had something to do with that little flame accident they had last year.

Tsuna didn't really remember the details but apparently his brother had accidentally burned a small portion of their yard. Tsuna recalled how his father was very pleased when he heard it, though Tsuna was puzzled with the disappointed look his father gave when he looked at Tsuna. Whatever reason Iemitsu had to take Natsuhiko away from home Tsuna was thankful he was not taken away too, he was glad to be here where his mother needed him.

"Oh yes… I will remember to send Natsuhiko's favorite food, my homemade pickle and apple jam." Nana's smile turned nostalgic, it was good to know his brother didn't forget the taste of home. Natsuhiko had a contrasting personality compared to Tsuna, he was brash, loud and always had a goofy grin on his face that he inherited from their father. His relationship with Tsuna was not bad like brothers who keep fighting with brotherly rivalry, Tsuna was too timid for that. Tsuna loved his brother but their personalities clashed so they couldn't relate at all, and Natsuhiko himself preferred to be in the company of his friends rather than Tsuna's, playing soccer and hanging around in game centres. The older twin on the other hand preferred to be at home, helping his mother do chores and spending his spare time reading manga and gardening. The only thing that was similar between the twins was their horrible performance in school, thankfully Natsuhiko made up for it by being a star in soccer and Tsuna won a couple of literature competitions. While Natsuhiko had a lot of friends, Tsuna had none and for as long as he could remember Tsuna hoped one day he could be as good as Natsuhiko in making friends.

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><p>The white haired boy sighed as he ran his fingers through his messy hair, his pale skin and white hair made him look like he'd fade into the background of that white room. He always thought hospital rooms, no matter how luxurious, had the smell of death. He never liked it even though he spent most of his life trapped in that room. The only thing he liked about the room was the silence so he was really irritated at the slightest noise. As long as the noise didn't bombard his sanctuary he didn't care.<p>

"The Gesso family paid a lot for your research so you could heal young master Byakuran!" Byakuran blinked. He recognized that voice, it was Sebastian the family butler. "And you dare to tell me the best you can do is prolong his life?" He wondered why Sebastian even cared, hell, his own father didn't even care in the slightest, and never would.

Byakuran could heal himself, he knew how but unfortunately he couldn't do it for many reasons. One: he was too young, not to mention the disease weakened him to the point he couldn't walk without the help of an electric wheelchair. Two: even though he could tell the doctors how to heal him, they wouldn't be able to follow his instructions because of the lack of technology. Three: he knew that in a few months his disease would be incurable even with his knowledge.

This was just him being unlucky to be born with a disease since young age, almost all of his alternate selves were much older and healthy.

He knew the next two years would be long and painful just to struggle to survive, but the little experiment one of his alternate selves conducted would probably make the last two painful years enjoyable. Byakuran Gesso had nothing to lose, and with this he could die without regret.

He smiled when he saw two pink haired girls appear from the thin air right beside his bed, "Hello Cervello…"

They nodded, "What is your decision Byakuran-sama?" One of them were holding a familiar black box in their hands.

Byakuran smirked mischievously as he raised his right hand to them, "Put the Mare Sky ring on my finger." He paused, "And sneak some marshmallow in for me later!" He whispered, "Sebastian won't give me any!"

They sweat-dropped, "Byakuran-sama…"

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><p><em>"Always remember, a cat looks down upon a man, and a dog looks up to a man, but a pig will look a man in the eye and see his equal."<em>

WINSTON CHURCHILL

It might be a funny quote at first glance, but Tsuna liked it for it's deeper meaning. He always observed how most people looked down upon him like a cat and how his literature teacher and mother looked at him in the eye. Tsuna doubted he would ever find anyone who would look up to him. He definitely had no answer to what this toddler's, dressed in a suit with a fedora on his head, way of looking at him was. It seemed the depths of those dark eyes confused his trained eyes.

"Ciaossu! I am Reborn."

What kind of name was Reborn?

"I will be your tutor."

What kind of sick joke was this?

The last thing Tsuna remembered was the baby ordering him to die with a gun pointed at him, he was sure he saw the bullet right between his eyes. He wakes up in a cold sweat, and wonders 'what was that dream about?' Nevertheless the dream has ended and he was back in the real world. Tsuna thought it would be the last time he would dream of a cocky baby pointing a gun at him. For the next three weeks almost every night he dreams of getting shot at and running around in his boxers.

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><p><strong>Present prologue: The Sky of Summer and The Peaceful Sky<br>(Sawada Tsunayoshi 13 years old)**

Natsuhiko munched on his toast heartily, sighing in delight as the sweet and sour taste of apple touched his tongue. Nothing could beat the taste of home, of his mother's cooking. He had so much to tell his mother and brother, though the latter was not a priority. Sometimes he wished Tsunayoshi and him were more alike in personality, then he could share stories about his training and studying as the next Mafia Boss. Tsunayoshi would freak out if he knew his little brother was a Mafia-Boss-in-training.

Speaking of Tsunayoshi, his older twin was nowhere in sight. Natsuhiko didn't see him last night either, while his mother had been awake to welcome him even though it was late. His kind mother told him that Tsuna was sleeping over at his friend's place, and will see him in school. There was nothing much Natsuhiko knew about his twin since he left Japan, his father had deemed it important to limit their communication with family for safety reasons.

"You are in for a surprise at school Nat-kun…" Nana said cheerfully.

Natsuhiko blinked, "A surprise?" He scowled, "And stop calling me that Kaa-san! I am thirteen years old! Call me Natsuhiko or Natsu for short!"

Nana giggled, "I still call your older brother Tsu-kun, I don't see why I have to give you special treatment young man…" Nana chided jokingly,

The older brunette was happy her son was back. It was unfortunate though that Tsu-kun had slept over at Yamamoto's house. Over the years Natsuhiko had grown to be almost an exact copy of her husband. Nana thought when they were just babies Natsuhiko would be the one who was more good looking of the two, Tsuna looked very much like her. But now…

"You have rice stuck on your cheek." she said as she pointed at her own cheek to indicate where the piece was, "Very mature indeed."

Natsuhiko could only blush as he hastily wiped his dirty cheek; it was good to be back in Japan. In Italy the food was amazingly luxurious but his mother's cooking was much better.

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><p>On the way to school Natsuhiko couldn't help but think about the surprise his mother told him about. It was undoubtedly related to Tsuna, and Natsu wondered what kind of surprise his older twin had. His thoughts were interrupted when a tiny shoe rammed itself straight into his nose.<p>

"Baka-Natsu, don't space out in the middle on the road. That's unbefitting for a boss-in-training." Natsu groaned as he nursed his bleeding nose. "Stupid-Natsu, wipe that with a handkerchief, not your hand!"

Natsu growled, "I am not a bloody girl! I don't bring a handkerchief around with me all the time!" He yelled indignantly.

"Ano…" His ears perked up at the melodious voice called from his back.

"Yes?" He turned around to find two of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen, both of them was wearing Nami-chu's uniform. The first girl had orange hair cut just below her face and light brown eyes, she was smiling at him and Reborn. The second girl had dark brown hair that was styled in a high ponytail and had equally dark cat like brown eyes. A sheepish smile was on her lips as she nervously stretched her hand to offer her white handkerchief to him. "Thanks…" He accepted the handkerchief. "Sorry for this, I will buy you a new one later." he promised as he wiped the blood off of his face.

The ponytailed girl's smile became wider in return, "Don't worry, you can just throw it away… Haru has a lot of handkerchiefs at home." Then she fished out another handkerchief from her pocket, "And I have a spare with me now, so you can have that one. Haru gives it to you, so feel free to use it desu."

Natsuhiko thought it was very cute she spoke in third person, "Ah okay, thank you very much… err… "

"Miura Haru…" She introduced.

_'What a cute name for a pretty girl.' _Natsu thought.

"Miura-san…" He smiled charmingly, "Thank you for your kindness." It puzzled him slightly when the girl didn't even blush at the sight of his smile and only replied curtly before she bid him goodbye since she was in a club and so had to be in school early. Natsuhiko was surprised to find the second girl Miura Haru dubbed as Kyoko-chan put three candies wrapped in brown wrappers in Reborn's tiny hands, Haru did the same and then they quickly rushed in the school's direction, leaving the hitman and boss-in-training alone.

Natsuhiko whistled, "As popular as ever with the girls aren't you Reborn-sensei?"

Reborn, surprisingly, unwrapped one and popped the orb shaped, dark brown candy into his mouth, "Hm… it's espresso flavored."

_'How did they know Reborn's favorite flavour?'_ Natsuhiko wondered in confusion, not to mention it was weird they gave coffee flavored candy to random babies. Reborn was not a baby but, still, he looked like one. Usually girls were very careful about giving sweets to children.

"Did you notice something unusual Baka-Natsu?" Reborn asked calmly, the sound of his teeth crushing the hard candy could be heard.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "They give coffee candies to babies? That's weird I admit…"

Reborn scowled, "Good grief, both you and Iemitsu are so dense." He licked his lips, unwrapping another candy. "Those two wore the Nami-chu uniform but theirs was not the usual regular uniform." Natsu raised an eyebrow, "For one, the fabric theirs were made of have better quality than the usual one, their jackets were rimmed in orange and there is a school badge on the knot of their ties."

He smiled sheepishly, "I didn't notice… but what does it have to do with anything?" he asked, "You know, it's not unusual to modify school uniforms in Japan."

The hitman clicked his tongue in irritation, "Why do I bother?" he wondered out loud, "Do you know the background of your school?"

Natsu shrugged, then started to read his short research out loud. "Namimori Gakuen. Two years ago it was just a small school that was, overall, pretty average. There is also an elementary school and a high school that shares the same name and are also under the same board governor though they were located in different places in Namimori. It's been two years since the Imonoyama family took over ownership. Imonoyama is one of the riches families in Japan that's rumored to be ruling Japan's economy from behind the scenes. So now the Namimori Gakuen has become the branch school of Clamp Gakuen in Tokyo. Since Namimori now belongs to this flamboyantly rich family, it's reasonably big with the kindergarden, elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school in one complex." He took a deep breath, "I heard they will be building a university next…"

Reborn scoffed, "Reasonably big you say? While it's not as big as the one in Tokyo, the school is easily in the top five of the biggest schools in Japan."

"Wow!" Natsu was impressed.

"And, I ask you to pay attention to uniforms because the student council wears distinctive uniforms." Reborn pointed out with a smirk.

Natsu blinked, "So those two are on the student council? Well… so what? It's not like I'm aiming to be the boss of the school or anything so why do I have to watch out for them?"

Reborn's kick once again landed on his face, "Because Baka-Natsu, the president of the student council was handpicked by the headmaster and the other members were picked by the president. They are the best of the best in your school." He explained in a tired tone, "The unique characteristic Namimori shares with the main school in Tokyo is how the student council governs their school. They are given full authority, their decision making power outranks those of the board of directors, PTA, and the faculty." Natsu gaped at Reborn's explanation, he heard the student council of this school was good but he didn't expect them to practically own the school. "Yes… they own the school and run it as they please. I believe Imonoyama called it the democracy of youth."

"Wow…"

"Oh, and remember to look at student council members for potential guardians." Reborn reminded him, "You will be surprised with what kind of people you could find…" The boss-in-training had an uneasy feeling at the sight of Reborn's smirk.

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><p>Class 1D<p>

The sound of chalk grazing the surface of the black board was the only thing that could be heard in class 1D, though from the look on their faces Natsuhiko suspected his new classmates were holding back to keep from bursting into chatting with each other. They also had disbelieving looks on their faces as their eyes traveled back and forth from his name on the blackboard to him. He suspected that was surely not because he was good looking or anything, or maybe there was something stuck on his face? Rice again?

"Sawada Natsuhiko, a transfer student from Italy…" Their teacher, a middle-aged man called Hishigi-sensei said as he finished writing Natsuhiko's name with a flourish.

Natsuhiko nodded as Hishigi-sensei told him to introduce himself, "My name is Sawada Natsuhiko, I've live in Italy for almost four years because of family matters." Then he winked, "I am pretty fluent in Italian of course, and I am looking forward to spending the next two semesters in this class especially because the girls in this class are all belle signore." A pause, "I mean kawaii ojousan-tachi…" As if on cue, all thegirls blushed deep red while most of the boys in class groaned, and the rest of them snickered. He was about to ask if anyone had any questions for him but Hishigi-sensei decided he had made enough ruckus so he was quickly ushered to sit beside a blond boy who had a lollipop in his mouth. He had a very bored look on his face and barely spared a glance at Natsuhiko as the taller boy sat in the seat next to his.

"I am Sawada Natsuhiko…" He offered a hand. "Nice to meet you."

The blond took the lollipop out of his mouth; Natsuhiko raised an eyebrow at the pink wrench-shaped sweet. "_Mi Chiamo Spanner, Molto lieto."_

Natsuhiko's jaw dropped, but he quickly put it back since it was unbefitting for a boss-in-training. "_Parla italiano?"_ he asked hesitantly, voice low because he didn't want to attract attention.

Spanner nodded, lollipop placed on his bottom lip. _"Si, parlo italiano…"_ he answered lazily, and then he switched to Japanese. "Anyway… you shold turn around and pay attention to the blackboard or else… Hishigi-sensei is glaring at you."

Natsuhiko hastily turned around and smiled apologetically to the glaring teacher, he tried to strike a conversation with Spanner when Hishigi-sensei wasn't looking, but Spanner ignored him all throughout the Japanese Language period, the blond barely acknowledged his presence in Science class much to Natsuhiko's irritation. Natsuhiko, despite being irritated at Spanner, was very curious about the blond boy, especially because all the teachers ignored the fact that Spanner was eating sweets in class. Their Science teacher, Maiko-sensei didn't even care Spanner answered her question in front of class with a lollipop in his mouth.

At break, Natsuhiko decided to look for his brother but to no avail he couldn't find his brother's spiky hair in any of the first year classes. He wanted to ask around but if his brother was anything like when Natsuhiko left Japan no one would care enough to know where he was. Tsuna was good at fading into the background like that. Natsuhiko knew, by all rights, the moment the Ninth's sons were killed it should've been Tsunayoshi, as the older of the two, appointed as the next boss, but Iemitsu, as CEDEF leader, suggested Natsuhiko instead because he was the stronger one. Not to mention that when Tsuna was young he had a weak body and got sick easily. Natsuhiko would never admit it but he was happy to be appointed as candidate for Boss instead of Tsuna because, just like any normal brother would, Natsuhiko felt happy he was acknowledged as someone better than his brother. He was special while Tsuna was normal, if not a failure.

He was quite tired of looking so he sat on a bench in Nami-chu's garden. It was sunny outside, and since now was summer it was quite humid. He was quite used to it though since Italy was much hotter than Japan in summer.

Natsuhiko almost jumped out of shock when someone patted his shoulder, "YO!" It was the boy who sat behind him, Natsuhiko recalled. If only his hyper intuition had awakened. He was sure no one could catch him off guard then, he was also sure Reborn would give him a beating for this lapse later. The boy was a few inches shorter than Natsuhiko, with spiky brown hair and coal black eyes.

"I am Huzimori Mitsuru, call me Mitsu. Can I call you Natsuhiko?" He offered his hand that Natsuhiko shook firmly, the other boy winced but noted it was probably because of his rather muscular built.

Natsuhiko noted the boy was very friendly, a type that was easily popular in school. "Of course…" Becoming this boy's friend would make it easier for him to find friends and recruit potential Family members. "Just call me Natsu… it's shorter, Mitsu."

Mitsuru grinned, "Are you looking for someone?" At the sheepish look Natsuhiko had Mitsuru laughed, "I thought so. My guess is you are looking for Sawada Tsunayoshi-senpai right?"

Natsuhiko blinked, "How did you know?"

Mitsuru laughed some more, "You are one oblivious bloke! Why do you think those girls were staring at you the whole day? I just guessed you are looking for him because you share the same sur-name, I wasn't sure though…"

"They stared because I am good looking." Natsuhiko stated, he had a lot of female admirers in Italy so he didn't see anything weird with them staring at him. "Wait." He paused, realizing there was one word Mitsuru said that he almost missed, "Why did you call Tsuna 'Tsunayoshi-senpai'?"

The brown haired boy blinked, "Erm, are you related to him? Sawada is a fairly common surname so I am not sure…"

Natsuhiko sighed, "We might be not identical but we are twins."

Mitsuru gaped, his jaw dropping to the floor. "You are Sawada-senpai's twin? Seriously?" Then he raised his hands in a placating gesture as if afraid Natsuhiko would be offended, though the boss-in-training wondered why the boy thought he would be offended Mitsuru was in disbelief that he was Tsuna's twin. "No offence man… you're not that bad looking if the looks the girls in our class has is any indication, but you really don't look like him at all."

"No sweat…" Natsuhiko assured the shorter boy, "I take after my father, and my twin looks more like my mother." A pause, "So care to enlighten me on why you called my brother senpai? Last time I checked he was born only twenty minutes earlier than me, so he should be in the same grade as us."

The brown haired boy raised an eyebrow, "You... really don't know?"

"Family matters…" Was his smooth reply.

Mitsuru quickly dropped the idea of questioning Natsuhiko about why he didn't know about his own twin, he didn't like to pry into other people's business simply because it was too troublesome and not to mention rude. "Okay, about your brother... he skipped a grade."

"My Dame-niisan skipped a grade?" Natsuhiko slipped the old nickname he used on his brother in shock. "How is that possible? Tsuna is Dame-Tsuna, always the last…"

Mitsuru for unknown reason paled, and Natsuhiko froze in his tracks when he felt cold steel pressed against his neck. He quickly backed away, wincing when his arms collided with hard steel, blocking the weapon but overestimating his arm's strength and underestimating his attacker's power. "Hn…"

His attacker was a black haired youth with cold eyes that Natsuhiko was familiar with; he had seen those kinds of eyes in the mafia world, the eyes of a vicious and experienced killer. Natsuhiko thought he was an assassin but halted his accusation when his eyes fell on his attacker's uniform then to the tonfa that was being held expertly.

Mitsuru sputtered, "We are sorry Hibari-senpai! We are not crowding! I swear! Only two of us! No crowding!"

What was MItsuru talking about? "Why did you attack me?" he asked calmly, trying not to flinch under Hibari's cold glare, it was nothing compared to Reborn's but still pretty impressive for a boy who was still in junior high.

"Insulting **Kaichou** (Student Council President) in public (A.K.A my hearing range) warrants you to be bitten to death by me." he replied coldly.

Natsuhiko blinked, "When did I insult this school's Kaichou?" Heck, he didn't even know who the president of this school was! "And who gave you right to bite me to death?" he asked, crossing his arms haughtily.

The boss-in-training quickly regretted his action when he barely ducked out of the way so the end of Hibari's tonfa collided with the bench backrest, leaving a big hole in the wood just a few inches from Natsuhiko's torso. "You were saying…?" The prefect growled threateningly.

"He is a new transfer student!" Mitsuru said, at last finding his voice and quickly pulling Natsuhiko out from Hibari's line of sight. "He doesn't know!"

"What are you…?" Natsuhiko was about to ask but Mitsuru covered his mouth.

He hissed, "He is Hibari Kyouya, the leader of the Disciplinary Committee! Don't talk back to him and apologize if you still want to see the next sunrise!" Mitsuru warned the taller boy.

He was a Mafia-Boss-in-training! He shouldn't have to bow down to a civilian and definitely not to a prefect of all people. Natsuhiko however knew this man was no slouch, even though Natsuhiko's hyper intuition still stayed dormant he could tell that much. Natsuhiko had also just noticed the boy didn't wear the standard uniform of Nami-chu, he was wearing an unbuttoned gakuran with a red armand pinned to the sleeve, pretty ironic for a Discipline Committee member to not even obey the rule of standard uniform.

Hibari was about to approach them; Natsuhiko was on his guard while Mitsuru squeaked in fright, "Kyouya…" A smooth, serene voice called and Hibari stopped and straightened from his attacking stance. "I take my eyes off of you for a few hours and you go off on your own to beat someone up again." Natsuhiko's eyes went wide when a brown haired boy stepped out from behind a tree. Since when was he there and why did he look so familiar? "I've told you many times you shouldn't punish students for every single offense, a warning is good enough, don't you think?"

"Kaichou…" Hibari gave the president a curt nod, Natsuhiko was surprised the prefect had some respect for someone else. This Kaichou was undoubtedly a big shot. Note to self: Never cross this Kaichou in school. "This boy dared to insult you, disrespecting a member of the student council is a serious offense, even more so when it's the president to boot. This _herbivore_ here has guts to insult _you_ within _my_ hearing range." The older boy growled at Natsuhiko so badly that he had just to take one step back.

Natsuhiko turned his attention to anywhere but Hibari. He blinked when his eyes landed on the president of the student council. No wonder the boy looked familiar, it was his older twin Sawada Tsunayoshi! He was the president of the student council?

Review Please ^^

Next: Past (Reunion with Blessed Shower of Tranquility)  
>Present (The guardian of Namimori Gakuen)<p>

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><p><strong>Next: Past (Reunion with Blessed Shower of Tranquility) <strong>

Tsuna blinked, "You… you… have dreams too…? He stuttered, "Yamamoto-san?"

"Don't be so formal with me!" Yamamomoto said, "I am your best bud, along with that Goku-guy! We play mafia RPG together, remember?"

* * *

><p><strong>Present (The guardian of Namimori Gakuen)<strong>

Natsu growled, "I have nothing against gay Mitsu, considering my background… but if you get any idea about my brother, I will make sure your life is a living hell!" Despite the fact they were never get along before, Natsu was still a brother and he was reasonably protective of his brother.

The shorter boy blanched, but quickly recovered. "Hey! I am straight! And for your information, more than half of the school would blush in your brother's presence!" Natsu had to admit that might be the case, his brother from what he saw just now could charm almost everyone. "He is just so… so…"

Natsu sighed, "Pretty? Handsome… yeah, he is really pretty to look at. " Though Tsuna didn't look like their mother anymore, but strangely Natsu had a feeling he ever saw Tsuna's face somewhere in Italy. His face was eerily familiar… in Vongola Mansion Timoteo almost swore that he saw the portrait of Primo was sneezing just now.

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><p><strong>So CUT!<strong>

**As you can see I would like to separate this story in two parts, one where Tsuna was ten and he start reuniting with his guardians and then one when he was 13 yrs old. I planned to do Daily Live arc and I am sure "Past" would be finish by then before we enter Varia Arc. We maybe would never see Kokuyo arc here -.-'**

**Note that even though Tsuna in this story in the past was dame too he was not as bad as Tsuna in Canon, it's just me want to emphasize on parallel-ness. For Natsuhiko... Maybe you can pick Kurosaki Ichigo as the base character I use, though Ichigo even though I am not bleach fan I believe is pretty smart. Three years in Italy with Nonno and Reborn should have some effect~ Don't assume Tsuna is as powerful as Canon Tsuna TYL, he is thirteen and memory will only get you so far... his body couldn't keep up with memory of Canon Tsuna TYL.  
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**Imonoyama belongs to CLAMP, yeah that CLAMP! The school in their story is pretty much like Namimori Gakuen though in larger scale, CLAMP school is practically a small city. Go read the manga Clamp Detective School, though I have to admit it's not the best work of Clamp, more like them playing around.  
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**Please help me if anyone is interested to beta this fic XD though all I can give are gratefulness and drawing fanart you like ^^/I AM LOOKING FOR A BETA FOR THIS STORY! **

**Last but not least, I am opening a poll suggestion for Natsuhiko's guardian. Here is the criteria ^^ **

**-Preferably KHR character that overlooked in Canon, from other series also fine and if I don't know the series please give a detail characterization for me to use ^^ **

**-Position for Rain and Mist is closed (I already decided DX sorry) **

**-NO OC **

**-Not I-pin, Bianchi, Fuuta, or CEDEF member in canon. This is because I want all guardians around Natsuhiko's age. **

**-If no suggestion I will go ahead with using random character from KHR game (you can vote for them too)  
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	2. 1st Axis

**I need to confirm some stuff as in timeline, because I did not... even I would be confused 0.o Anyway, the past prologue start when Tsuna was ten years old in summer. He was in fifth grade BTW When present timeline when he was thirteen in mid of second term of school year. Natsu is first year and Tsuna is second year of Junior High School.  
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**BTW I receive a couple of** **comment that you like Natsu, and it seems under impression this is an OC centric fic. NO, it's not OC centric and Tsuna & Guardians** **main star. The reason why in "present" part Natsu appeared a lot if not almost the main focus is because I want the plot to roll in the eyes of stranger who have not been in Namimori for years like Natsu to emphasize to many changes in Tsuna and co. This will only go for three chapters in presents and I will put more of Tsuna start from 4th chapter ^^ **

**^^ Maybe you think this centers on Natsu because I make a guardian poll, that's just me too lazy to decide myself. So far I get Kokuyo boys, Lanchia,MM and who else?**

**Credits to my Beta Reader "Sailor Dying-Will" XD Thx for your help.  
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**Anyway without further delay... the show is starting!**

* * *

><p><strong> Past: Reunion with Blessed Shower of Tranquility<strong>

Tsuna had to admit the dreams were too vivid to be just dreams, and after each embarrassing dream (of him running around in boxers of all things) Tsuna developed a habit of waking up at quarter-to-six and running around the neighborhood so he could flush out the embarrassing memory. Tsuna found his first friend in Sasagawa Ryohei, the older boy was drawn to Tsuna because he was the only one who ran at such an early hour. Tsuna was happy to be Ryohei's friend, but kind of overwhelmed by the older boy's enthusiasm. Strangely even though Ryohei was an extreme version of his brash twin, Tsuna could relate to Ryohei easily as they were both older brothers. He would pass on Ryohei's offer to join his boxing club though.

"So Kyoko-chan still thinks that boxing is just two guys fighting in their underwear with oven mitts on, Ryohei-senpai?" Tsuna asked as he jogged a few feet away from Ryohei since the older boy was so loud Tsuna didn't dare get too close in fear he would go deaf. It was also because he didn't want Ryohei to hear his chuckles, Kyoko's description of boxing was very funny after all.

Ryohei sniffed sadly, "Yeah! I tried to explain to her many times! But she just laughs my explanations off, to the extreme!" he yelled, and Tsuna instinctively inched away.

Tsuna liked Kyoko, she was very cute and kind to him. He didn't think he liked her more than a friend though; he was too young for that. "I will try to talk to Kyoko-chan, I am sure she will understand then." Tsuna could sympathize with Ryohei since Natsuhiko also laughed at his hobby claiming reading poems was very nerdy, not to mention girly. If only Natsuhiko knew that most famous poets were men.

* * *

><p>Tsuna was very confused when, on the way home from school, a popular boy known as Yamamoto Takeshi approached him with a beaming grin. Tsuna blanched at the familiar smile on Yamamoto Takeshi's face, this boy was one of his friends in those weird dreams. Tsuna had contemplated approaching the tall boy a few times but he was too shy, not to mention he felt stupid approaching someone because of a dream.<p>

He didn't expect Yamamoto to hug him, grinning like a loon, until the shorter boy was almost in danger of suffocating. "Yo Tsuna! I am so thankful you saved me! You are the bestest friend I've ever have!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Tsuna blinked. Did that mean what he thought that meant? "D-do you have strange dreams too, Y-yamamoto-san?" he stuttered in disbelief.

"Hey, don't be so formal with me!" Yamamomoto let him go, holding him at arm's length, "I'm your best bud, along with that Goku-guy! We play that mafia RPG together, remember?"

While Tsuna was happy Yamamoto thought of him in that way, he didn't want to gain a friend just because of a dream. "It's… just a dream. I've never done anything for you… none of what we dreamed of." he pointed out nervously.

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed at Tsuna. "Well…" he began, "While it may be a dream, I almost think it's real." the taller boy admitted and Tsuna fought back tears at the prospect of losing a friend he had always longed for. "It's also the best dream I ever had, Tsuna."

"But…"

"If I was about to jump to my death because of a broken arm," Yamamoto started, Tsuna's eyes went wide at the memory of the start of the friendship between him and Yamamoto in that dream. That was one of the best and also the scariest dreams he's had, because he recklessly tried to giveYamamoto advise he went and broke his arm and almost committed suicide. "Would you try to stop me like you did in that dream?"

"Of course!" Tsuna yelled angrily, all hesitation flew out of the window at the prospect of letting his friend jump to his death. "I would never let you die over a broken arm! Your life is precious. What, were you thinking I would…" Tsuna trailed off, anger dissipating, as he blushed deep red when he realized he was yelling at Yamamoto.

But before he could stutter an apology Yamamoto raised his hands in a placating manner, "Tsuna, in that dream I had… lots of people were watching me stand on the edge of the rooftop, about to throw my life away just like that." Yamamoto said sadly, his eyes glassy from unshed tears.

The baseball player sniffed, "It's scary, you know? Dreaming of myself about to jump off of a building. I thought I was going to die for real. My friends... my teammates and the other students were standing far away from me. I was yelling deep inside, begging for them to stop me. I couldn't stop myself… everything just played out like a drama in front of my very eyes."

Tsuna just stayed quiet; he didn't dare utter a word in fear Yamamoto would cry in that very moment. "They asked me to stop, pleading with me to change my mind but no one came to save me. They didn't come near in fear I would jump and then would blame themselves for my death… no one was brave enough to stop me…" Then he smiled at Tsuna, "But you… the boy everyone called a coward and Dame was brave enough to come near, even going as far as admitting you were the one at fault for giving that advice to me. You were honest of your lack of ambition and irresponsibility." Yamamoto had a slight blush on his cheeks, "You said what I wanted to hear the most, that it was stupid to kill myself over a broken bone that would heal."

Tsuna blushed a deeper red, "I-I ran away after that."

Yamamoto sighed at that, "Tsuna, you _tried_ to run away after you got your point across, you were embarrassed of all the stuff you said after all, I could tell." Tsuna didn't trust himself to utter a word in fear he would stutter some lame excuse to deny it. Yamamoto's words were right on the dot anyway; he was very embarrassed in that dream. "Not to mention after that I almost got you killed too…" Yamamoto said apologetically, "And you saved me again! You saved me twice in that dream… first from myself." He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb, "Then again from gravity…" He smiled sheepishly.

The brunette shook his head, "I was under the effect of that weird Dying Will Bullet." Tsuna blushed again, "You know… the one that made me run around in my boxers and yell about my dying will."

Yamamoto sighed again, "Tsuna… how long do you intend to deny your self worth? That time you yelled '_**Save Yamamoto with my dying will'**_I heard it clearly even though I was almost plummeting to my death." Yamamoto said sternly, his dark eyes boring holes in Tsuna's. "That was what was in your mind when you were shot by that kid…" Yamamoto pointed at Tsuna, "You were in the same condition, and yet you were thinking of saving me and not yourself."

"I…" Tsuna had nothing to say to that.

Yamamoto smiled at Tsuna, putting a comforting arm around his shoulders. Tsuna had dreamed of this many times, of a friend that always made him feel secure just by staying by his side. Friends he treasured more than life itself, "You are a great guy Tsuna and I am a very lucky guy to have the honor to call myself your friend." A friend that never belittled him, one that looked at him as an equal. The friends he had in that dream always looked at him with admiration, affection and, hesitant in some of them, respect, for they saw him as someone who was worthy of their friendship.

"So… friends?" Yamamoto's tone was pleading as he put out his hand and Tsuna could tell he was more afraid than Tsuna to be denied of friendship.

Tsuna nodded shyly, then he accepted Yamamoto's offered hand and shook it firmly. "Let's start again Yamamoto…" Tsuna said, smiling at the taller boy, "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi, I like playing video games and reading poetry. You can call me Tsuna."

Takeshi grinned, "Yamamoto Takeshi, I like baseball and playing a Mafia RPG with my very best friends. Call me Takeshi, Tsuna!"

And with that the sky reunited with his rain, and rejoiced for the blessed shower that colored the sky with its tranquility.

* * *

><p><strong>Present: The guardian of Namimori Gakuen (part one)<br>**

For most of his life Natsuhiko remembered his brother as a _dame_ but adorable and shy boy that would be more fitting as his younger brother instead of his older brother. Their elementary school days consisted of Tsuna being bullied and Natsuhiko coming to his rescue. In his mind Tsuna was kind, shy, naïve, a bully magnet, stupider than he was in math, and a scaredy cat.

However the teenager he saw now repainted everything he ever knew about his older twin.

Tsuna had grown, though not as tall as his twin with his smaller frame, and had skin that was lighter than Natsuhiko's tanned one. Natsuhiko had the sharp profile of his father though he still had some baby fat, and coloring he inherited from his mother. Natsuhiko was a fairly handsome young lad and he was quite a charmer in his own right. Tsuna was more reserved and shy in the past, and despite still having the soft features of Nana Tsuna's eyes were sharp with light golden orbs that really stood out despite wearing glasses, his hair was still spikier than his twin and he had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. In overall Tsuna was a very handsome, if not beautiful, young man.

Tsuna's soft golden eyes shone in mirth as he chided the prefect good-naturedly. "Give them a break Kyoya. One of them is a new student, we don't want to give a bad first impression, so please…?" Tsuna put a placating hand on Hibari's shoulder. "Besides, I am sure my otouto (little brother) has a right to insult his onii-san once in a while." He winked at Natsuhiko who was still in shock at the revelation.

"Oh…?" Hibari sounded amused to the point a smirk reached his lips, "This herbivore, one that is trying and failing to show fangs at a predator, is your brother?" Natsuhiko was sure that was an insult, and he noted to pay it back before the prefect graduated.

Tsuna sighed wearily, "Yes Kyoya. Now, you are scaring our kouhai so can you go back to your office? Tetsuya is looking for you, the last time I saw him."

"Hn…" Hibari snorted and he shot a last cruel smirk at Natsuhiko before walking past Tsuna with a curt nod. "See you around Kaichou, and warn your brother to not spout his annoying herbivore's mouth off in my presence."

"HEY!" Natsuhiko yelled indignantly at the retreating back of Hibari Kyouya, but no matter how much he shouted the older boy was already gone. Natsuhiko turned his attention to his brother, and noted he still had that charming smile he inherited from their mother on his face. From the corner of his eyes Natsuhiko saw his new friend hiding behind a tree, blushing furiously at the sight of Tsuna. He paid it no mind then smirked at Tsuna, "Hey! Long time, no see. I see you're not so dame anymore, those glasses of yours are totally nerdy though, Tsuna."

Tsuna chuckled softly, adjusting his glasses. "Well… two and half years apart is a long time, but you didn't change that much from what I see."

Natsuhiko huffed, "You are the one who changed too much." He pointed out, "So Kaichou, huh? Never thought I'd see the day my brother is the President of the Student Council." He smiled, "Father would be proud. He used to complain why you couldn't be a bit like me." Natsuhiko froze when he saw Tsuna's eyes narrow at him. He tried to look away but couldn't when those golden orbs pinned his brown eyes in place.

Tsuna gasped as he realized he was glaring at his twin. Shaking his head, Tsuna smiled to ease the tension. "I would love to talk longer Natsu, but I don't want the Vice President tearing down the school if I take too long to return to my class." Then he added before he turned his back, "Lets go home together today, if I am not at your class ten minutes after the bell, come to our office on the fifth floor. I am sure your friend knows where is it."

"Oh… kay." Natsuhiko was too tired to answer otherwise, and in the back of his mind he was aware that Tsuna had just given him the first order he could make as an older brother since they were born. Natsuhiko pushed that thought away because as far as he knew Tsuna never acted like an older brother to him.

Tsuna gave him another smile over his shoulder then rushed to get back to the school building, and after his brother disappeared from sight Natsuhiko pulled the blushing Mitsuru out from behind the tree. "Hey! Snap out of it!"

Mitsuru sputtered as Natsu let go of his hand, "I am sorry… I am just a bit too…"

"Entranced by my brother?" Natsu growled, "I have nothing against gays Mitsu, considering my background, but if you get any ideas about my brother, I will make sure your life is a living hell!" Despite the fact they never got along before, Natsu was still family and he was reasonably protective of his brother.

The shorter boy blanched but quickly recovered. "Hey, I'm straight! And, for your information, more than half of the school would blush in your brother's presence!" Natsu had to admit that might be the case, his brother, from what he saw just now, could charm almost everyone. "He is just so… so…"

Natsu sighed, "Pretty? Handsome? Yeah... he is really pretty to look at." Though Tsuna didn't look like their mother anymore, but strangely Natsu had a feeling he'd seen Tsuna's face somewhere in Italy. His face was eerily familiar. In Italy the Ninth almost had a heart attack when he saw Primo's portrait sneeze, but quickly brushed it off as him being delusional because of his old age.

* * *

><p>PE was next and Natsu used the chance to skip the class when Enomoto-sensei wasn't looking, since he was new Natsu was sure the teacher wouldn't notice he didn't run laps with the rest of the boys in his class. It was very easy to find Reborn in the backyard of the school or rather the hitman found him and kicked him in the face again. Stupid Reborn, did he want to scar the face of his future boss?<p>

"So Reborn… Does my father have any idea that my brother is not so dame anymore?" he asked, leaning against the wall lazily.

The chibi hitman was sitting on Leon, who had morphed into an armchair, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. "I doubt it… your father forbid any contact with Vongola in regards to your brother and mother." A pause, "Just keep it a secret from your father, let him find out for himself. From what I see, your brother is not particularly fond of Iemitsu."

Natsu sighed at that, "Well… Tsuna doesn't know about the Family business so of course, to him, father looks like a bastard who left his family for work."

Reborn rolled his eyes. "That idiot Iemitsu didn't give an appropriate excuse either. Tell me… would you have a good opinion of your father if you were told that he didn't come back home for months then years because he was working traffic at construction sites?"

"Err…"

"Lal told me your stupid father's latest letter to your mother included a photo of the South Pole, complete with penguins and an igloo." Reborn shook his head, "That's… too idiotic to the point it might be on par with Tomaso."

Natsu shuddered at the name, "Don't say it!" Then he chanted, "That never happened, Natsu! No pinwheel and creepy gothic girl or punk with crappy taste in girls! That's just… a figment of your imagination." he chanted again and again.

The arcobaleno suppressed an urge to kill his student, this boy was too alike with Iemitsu to the point he suspected the boy was actually cloned from the man. In his mind he was also chanting, _The heir is important. Don't kill the heir. Remember Reborn, Nonno is counting on you._

* * *

><p>Saying Namimori gakuen was quite a big school would be an understatement, it was a prestigious private school located in the heart of Namimori town and was easily the largest building complex in the city. Namimori Gakuen also housed four different school levels; Kindergarden, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. CollegeUniversity was in progress of construction. Although these four schools were on the same grounds, the students mostly remained in their own grade level, although they were free to move from building to building on the campus.

Tsuna thought the very reason students didn't roam free outside their respective grade had something to do with their school size and its maze like structure. It was not the school, per se, that was built like a maze but the sheer size was enough to make people get lost easily. Tsuna still remembered last years incident where he had to arrange a search party because one of their students got lost in school and couldn't find his way back until he was found the next morning, it would be a scandal if the said student was from the Elementary or Kindergarten Division, which should be under teacher's supervision for most of the time. The student however was from the High School Division, he had got lost when chasing a homerun Yamamoto Takeshi hit to the forest. Tsuna knew the Student Council members were something like a kind of celebrity in their school, but he never thought someone would get themselves in trouble for something as petty as Yamamoto's homerun ball. Avid baseball fans or not, Tsuna would rather be ignorant of the fact that Yamamoto had fanboys, and so does the rest of the student council.

Not long after that incident Tsuna found out that each of them had a fan club, with his being the largest in number. It was an illegal club since its activity was stalking and sending them presents, but on the other hand he couldn't just dismiss them coldheartedly. In the end, after a long meeting a committee was formed to organize these fanclubs and keep them in line. He had no choice since sooner or later his shoe locker would explode with love letters and his desk buried under presents. Hibari was not happy his committee had to keep rabid herbivores in line.

The Fanclub Diciplinary Committee's rules were as follows:

-Stalking SC members is a serious offense; the offender would be expelled from Namimori Gakuen.

-Gifts could only be given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, and Valentine's day. The Committee will organize a 'give present' event, giving the present outside of said event is prohibited. All gifts also have to pass screening before it reaches any SC member.

-No stealing the property of any SC member, the same rule applies to any school property they use or have used. Those caught stealing would be expelled.

-Crowding in groups before school started for morning greeting is allowed as long as at least one squad of the FDC is present. Don't block their way and stand behind the line the FDC draws, and at least six feet away from the SC's path. _(Hibari Kyouya really disapproved of this rule.)_

It would be nice to not have all of this attention, which meant less blood in Kyoya's path, but Tsuna had to uphold the school's motto. Imonoyama held the democracy of youth in high regards, a little too high to his liking actually. He was never comfortable with the idea of owning the school by proxy.

* * *

><p>He was just called by Imonoyama Reika, the headmaster of both Clamp and Namimori Gakuen. The Namimori Gakuen's headmaster's office didn't house said headmaster though, only a giant screen that broadcasted from Clamp Gakuen's office. Tsuna sat down with a sigh as the headmaster greeted him on screen. The woman was in a fuchsia kimono and half of her face was hidden behind bamboo blinds, a fan in her nimble fingers.<p>

"Hello, Tsunayoshi-kun. I heard your brother has just transferred to our school." she said cordially, "It must be a very happy occasion, this brother's reunion."

"Yes." Tsuna answered curtly. He had learned that when it comes to dealing with Imonoyama being honest and straightforward without pleasantries was the best way. "It is… " A pause, "As promised I will do everything to keep this school as it is from whatever my brother's presence brings upon this school."

The headmaster smiled, "Oh yes… your brother's tutor has started making some…" She trailed off, "personal hideouts all over our school…" She laughed as she unfolded her fan flamboyantly, "So adorable and amusing, this arcobaleno."

Her nerve for calling Reborn adorable made Tsuna take note to himself to never let the headmaster and Reborn meet face to face. "Headmaster… please stay out of our affairs." he said sternly, "I am well aware of some of…" Tsuna trailed off, "Imonoyama's _connections_ but it would be best if you let me and the Namimori student council deal with it."

She faked a bashful laugh, "Of course… our school motto is democracy of youth, why should I interfere Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes mentally because it would be rude to do it openly, "For the same reason the Imonoyama family took over Namimori Gakuen's ownership." He pointed out blandly. "Pardon me, but the Imonoyamas are never one that could keep their hands off of anything they find interesting and amusing."

While such a blunt statement would insult most people Imonoyama Reika just smiled as amusement painted her face, then again the Imonoyamas were not most people. "Don't worry Tsunayoshi-kun, we will keep our hands by our side as long as we get first row seats."

The Council President sighed, "The first row seats are dangerous…" he stated bluntly.

"Ho ho ho ho…" The screen became blank as the connection was cut off at the other end, which concluded his short meeting with the headmaster.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed at the blank screen, his golden eyes lost their luster as his fist clenched tightly in effort to control his emotions. "Get a grip Tsuna, you will not lose it here… this is just the beginning." Tsuna told himself as he took off his glasses revealing a brighter sheen of gold in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Afternoon class, unfortunately in their teacher's eyes and fortunately to the student's, was a self-study period because their English teacher suddenly had to be rushed to the hospital because of a light concussion when he was walking past the baseball field on the way to his class. The rumor said it involves one of the student council members, who was also the baseball star of their school, Yamamoto Takeshi.<p>

In Natsuhiko's opinion Yamamoto Takeshi was a very normal name for a Japanese boy, though his exploits in baseball was anything but normal. The baseball player, according to Mitsuru, was not directly responsible for poor old Watari-sensei's injury. A baseball flew like a bullet and embedded itself in the wire mesh fence, the force enough to bend the fence like an insect caught on a net. And Watari-sensei fell backward to the ground on his own, courtesy of shock and old age catching up with him because he was just one foot away from the fence when that happened.

Self study was apparently turned into another break period where all the students were doing anything they wanted including chatting, reading magazines or doodling. Natsuhiko chose to spend it laying on lush green grass under a big sakura tree in Namimori Gakuen's garden. He escaped from class because he disliked how most of his classmates were staring at him curiously, undoubtedly because his surname was Sawada. It was really sucky and it irritated him to no end, especially because Spanner was missing since PE. He was really curious about the boy especially if he was one of the potential guardians Reborn had called beforehand from Italy. He was also curious about that Yamamoto Takeshi and the rest of the student council members.

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><p><em>Flashback <em>

"_No one to blame actually." Mitsuru said with a slight grin, they were talking about the headline news of the day. "It's a well known fact to never ever walk around the baseball field if you have a weak heart and Yamamoto-senpai is the one playing."_

_The boss-in-training's lips curved up into a forced grin, "I know this school is full of geniuses in various fields." he said with a frown, "But this Yamamoto-senpai sounds like a pro." _'And not normal, even by genius standards.'_ he added mentally. _

_Mitsuru nodded, "He is. I heard some professional baseball teams have approached him." A pause, "By the way, while this school is better than most public schools, we are not all geniuses like you think." he explained wryly, doodling randomly in his notebook. "That's Clamp School. All the students there, at least, wins a province scale competition. Being a branch of school like Clamp School did wonders to our reputation." _

"_I see…" Natsuhiko had to blink a few times at that statement, Mitsuru was surprisingly observant for a middle school student. _

End of Flashback

* * *

><p>"Ciaossu."<p>

Natsuhiko's eyes bulged in shock when he found his tutor was sitting right beside him, and once again a kick landed on his face. For some reason Reborn's feet had taken a liking to his face, much to Natsuhiko's ire. "What's with you Reborn? You want to scar my face for life?"

The tiny shoulder shrugged nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I am sure your face is as thick as your father's." He folded his tiny arms, looking down haughtily at the brunette. "I will keep hitting you until you can dodge it, sad you didn't get that from your father. That elusiveness of his…"

"For once Reborn…" Natsu began tiredly, "Can you stop relating all of my lack to my father and vice versa?"

Reborn even didn't dignify that with a response, instead he greeted someone, "Ciaossu." This someone had undoubtedly snuck behind him, Natsu was too tired to be shocked and he wondered why so many people could just waltz into his personal space today.

"Konnichi-wa…" That jolted Natsu out from his thoughts, as he turned around to find Tsuna once again near for who knows how long. "Hello there…"

Tsuna, deep inside, was very nervous to greet Reborn in person, he reminded himself that Reborn was not his tutor but Natsu's. He had contemplated how to behave around Reborn, because he surely couldn't act like the Vongola Decimo-in-training his alternate self was. There was a split second of silence as their eyes met, Reborn was assessing Tsuna, wondering if his student's older twin was a threat or a possible ally for Natsu. Tsuna on the other hand came to a decision; he silently thanked a certain baseball player and hoped it would work.

He kept his lens covered eyes on Reborn and noticed from the corner of his eyes that Natsu was watching them with mixed emotions on his face but mostly horror. "Your friend Natsu?" Tsuna was cackling mentally at the look of horror on his twin's face. "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna introduced himself softly, his eyes looking straight at Reborn. Something he learned from his alternate self's painful tutoring under Reborn, the hitman respected people who looked at him straight in the eyes and didn't cower under his gaze. "Nice to meet you."

Reborn nodded, "Nice to meet you too." He was smirking mentally, and he thought _this boy was something._ "I am Reborn. Natsu's tutor… and hitman of the Vongola Family." he replied tonelessly. There was a phantom pain aching his heart, but Tsuna ignored it. His Reborn, who taught him about resolve and determination, was not this Reborn, and he was not Vongola Decimo.

"I am definitely not a friend of Natsu's." It was said emotionlessly but Tsuna could tell Reborn was insulted or at least displeased by what Tsuna said.

_Reborn, that's my_ brother_ you are talking to! _ Natsu cried in horror mentally.

Tsuna smiled apologetically, "Ha ha ha…" He bowed to Reborn, "My apologies then…" He never knew he was quite good at pulling a _Takeshi _and could fool Reborn of all people. Thankfully Takeshi wouldn't sue him for plagiarism, "It must be hard." He could be a little original here, "To be a hitman at such a young age." If anyone who knew about the arcobaleno curse heard it, Tsuna was sure they would roll on the ground with laughter for its double meaning. Reborn was an old man in a baby's body after all.

"Not really…" Reborn answered, his expression was unreadable. "Are you interested in joining our Family?" The chibi hitman asked, and Tsuna froze for a split second but quickly recovered and pasted an amused look on his face.

"Reborn! Cut it out!" Natsu cried, he looked like he wanted to throttle Reborn but unfortunately that was not possible. "We promised to not involve my brother in this! Don't spill like a broken dam!"

Tsuna rolled his eyes mentally; his brother was never that good in keeping secrets. If you want to keep a secret never say you have a secret. Talking about the pot calling the kettle black, but in Reborn's case he spilled secrets when he wanted to and when he wanted to keep it, milking water from a rock was easier than getting Reborn to spill. Natsu was about to open his mouth again and Tsuna decided to come to his rescue, because he wanted to have his brother's head stay on his shoulders.

"Now, now, Natsu." Tsuna chided good naturedly, "He is a baby." This statement wouldn't offend Reborn because that was a fact, at least physically.

"Bu-but that…" Natsu stuttered.

_'Hayato would freak out if he heard this.' _Tsuna thought gleefully. "Don't spoil the game Natsu, you played at pretending to be super heroes and cops when we were this age, right?" He paused, pretending to be deep in thought though actually he was enjoying the incredulous look on Natsu's face. Reborn's face was as expressionless as ever, though there was a slight hint of disbelief in that left eyebrow of his, it having rose by two millimeters. This was dangerous; he thought mischievously, he could get hooked in pulling a Takeshi in front of Reborn and Natsu whenever mafia related topics came up.

Tsuna decided to raise the ante up by hoisting Reborn up to his right shoulder, he was cheering loudly in his mind when Reborn did nothing whatsoever to resist. If anything Reborn allowed him to do it graciously, and the look of irritation on Natsu's face was undoubtedly because his twin knew if Natsu was in Tsuna's shoes he would have more holes in his body than emmental cheese. But the chibi hitman allowed Tsuna not only to touch but lift him up like a kid.

"Natsu is the future Tenth boss of Vongola." One of many things he was thankful for, Tsuna admitted silently.

Tsuna smiled softly, "That's amazing, you will be a great boss Natsu." He meant that one with all his heart though he preferred his twin had nothing to do with the mafia at all. But it seemed Natsu voluntarily joined the mafia like their father so there was nothing Tsuna could do to stop him.

"So, will you join our family?" Reborn asked with all the childish innocence he could muster, and Tsuna almost swore the chibi sounded a little hopeful. Reborn really hoped Tsuna would say yes, even if he thought this was just a game. He had watched the boy since his short reunion with Natsu and Reborn was impressed, even if Tsuna was not chosen as candidate he had charisma and commanded respect from his peers at such a young age. He had seen students looking at Tsuna with awe and respect, instinctively parted like the red sea when they crowded in front of him. Even teachers were smitten by Tsuna, as they heeded his every word when asked for advice. Reborn was sure Tsuna would be a splendid right hand man, and undoubtedly loyal to Natsu. What a pity Iemitsu overlooked someone like his oldest son, and Tsuna's choice of student council members was undoubtedly approved even by Reborn's standards. There were interesting people Reborn would look for later.

Tsuna wondered how Reborn could fake his childishness but be serious at the same time. His throat felt dry as he tried to sound normal, and he said. "Well… it sounds fun." He would never dream of calling joining the mafia as fun, he dismissed the figment of imagination that was Reborn's eyes lighting up at the prospect he might say yes. "But… I am busy with the student council, I will have no time for this mafia game."

"Oh." Tsuna almost feared for his life when he heard Reborn's voice turn cold.

"Don't be sad Reborn-san, I am sure you can find someone else to join the family." Preferably not him or any of the student council members. "Here." He handed him two brown candies Natsu recognized as the same Kyoko and Haru gave Reborn this morning, "Have this with my apology."

Reborn once again, surprisingly, accepted the sweets and popped both of them into his mouth, making crunching sound as he chewed. Tsuna feared Reborn was angry, and was imagining chewing Tsuna's head instead of the candies. Tsuna almost regretted letting the hitman sit on his shoulder but it was too late and too good a chance to pass up. So he turned to Natsu, to avoid Reborn's eyes. "Natsu, I heard about what happened to Watari-sensei, still, you shouldn't be outside like this. you'd be in big trouble if Kyoya catches you here."

"And I am not in trouble now since our esteemed Kaichou caught me skipping class?" He shot back.

Tsuna laughed softly at that, "No, I am not going to hand you to the Discipline Committee for skipping a self study class…"

"And because you are also skipping class?" Natsu asked sarcastically, "I wonder if that Hibari Kyoya would give you a detention, even though-"

The older twin crossed his arms, "Natsu… you seem to be in a very bad mood. Care to share?" Natsu was caught off guard. Tsuna, of all people, was trying to lend an ear to him?

"Oh yeah… " Natsu snorted, "Kaichou has to listen to other student's problems."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow but smiled as he corrected the statement, "No, your onii-san wants to listen to what troubles you." Natsu blinked at that, this new Tsuna, who acted all brotherly to him, was making him felt uneasy but touched at the same time. "I never acted much like an older brother to you Natsu, you never needed me when we were young."

"You weren't a reliable brother." Natsu said without thinking twice then quickly slapped his mouth in horror. "I-I mean."

Tsuna's smiling face was firmly in place, and Natsu had to wonder if this new Tsuna was still his brother at all. His old dame brother would have sputtered and muttered an apology for being useless. "I wasn't?" That was not a question, "Does this mean you think I might be a reliable brother now? Is it because of my position in this school?" he asked sincerely.

"It's…" Natsu muttered softly, "Because I don't know you at all… not anymore." he whispered so softly he was sure that only he could hear it, though how Tsuna's eyes locked onto his, Tsuna and Reborn heard him just fine. He sighed wearily, "Please, just drop it okay?"

"Natsu…" There was something in Tsuna's deep voice that nailed him in his place, and it irritated Natsu because… "I will not pry but keeping it to yourself will not help you." Reborn at this point hopped off of Tsuna's shoulder and landed softly on the grass patch, and locked his eyes on Tsuna's as if the older twin was an unsolved puzzle.

"Just let me have my space and maybe… " _Maybe._ "I will tell you. But right now I can't."

How could he tell Tsuna why he was depressed? Tsuna never felt the pressure of being the candidate of Vongola Boss, nor did he know how it felt to live under the shadow of the Vongola's Young Lion, their father, who in the mafia world was a great man and as his son he was expected to be as good as Iemitsu.

It irritated him to no end Reborn kept reminding him about how alike he was with Iemitsu and yet his father was still so far away. Even after two years of training he still couldn't activate his Flame at will and to reach Dying-Will Mode he had to rely on the DW Bullet. Hyper Dying-Will Mode was, of course, another milestone that was still so far away. He always thought he could do anything, that what his father was capable of he would be able to one day do but his slow progress irritated him. And then he was sent to Japan, he was afraid Vongola had thrown him away. Reborn's presence was the only solace that kept him believing Vongola still wanted him. He would never admit it but he was jealous Tsuna was doing so well in life even though he was a failure when they were young. His brother was unaware of the dark secret of their family and forever would be. While he had to be crushed under the burden.

His thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched voice singing a song that for some reason ruined his mood even more.

_Midori tanabiku_

_Namimori nooooo~ _

Both Reborn and Natsu looked at a ball of yellow feather that had descended from the tree right above them. Natsu was not sure that was a bird, though, because of its disproportioned body with wings that were too small for its round body. The little yellow bird had perched on Tsuna's shoulder then finished the rest of the song.

_Dai naku shou naku nami ga ii!_

It flapped its wings a few times then chirped restlessly, "Kaichou! Kaichou!"

Tsuna grinned as he lifted his hand and the bird hopped to his finger, "What is it Hibird? A report?"

"Report! Report!" Its head bobbed up and down cutely. "Office! Office!"

Tsuna smiled sheepishly, "I guess that's my cue to leave." he said, "I will see you after school Natsu."

The younger twin was still staring at Hibird as if it was some sort of alien. "Okay, but what is that?"

The Kaichou blinked at the question, "Our school's mascot." he answered as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well…" Tsuna trailed off, "The Student Council's mascot to be exact."

"That's why it's singing our school's anthem?" he asked curiously.

The older twin laughed softly, "It fits right? But actually Hibird learned it by himself, this little guy always wants to impress Kyoya." Tsuna said as he patted the bird gently with his forefinger.

"Hibari! Hibari!" It chirped happily.

That was… surprising. _Someone as vicious as that bastard prefect has a soft spot for a fluffy bird?_ Natsuhiko thought. The bird was quite peculiar, it wore a red headband with kanji for discipline and a choker with the Namimori crest on it.

Reborn looked at the bird with a disinterested face but deep down he was thinking about the abnormality he found since he stepped into Namimori gakuen. "How many birds do you keep in this school?" he asked casually.

Tsuna blinked at Reborn, "Ah, you noticed? There was a flock nesting all over the forest near this school."

Reborn had his gun ready at his side; the hitman clicked his tongue as his fedora shadowed his face. "I see…"

"This little guy is a very precious friend of ours." Tsuna said, well aware why Reborn was hiding his expression. But he paid no mind, he was prepared to leak some of their little secrets to hide the bigger ones.

The older twin smiled genially but the hitman didn't buy it. Reborn decided that whatever Idiot-Natsuhiko did in the future he absolutely must not make an enemy out of his older twin. Call it the hunch of a hitman or whatever you want, but Reborn could tell, just from a glance, what kind of person you should be wary of, respect, and/or fear. Much to his displeasure Sawada Tsunayoshi was those three, there was a hidden depth within him. A depth he thought his student shouldn't dive into.

"See you after school, otouto, Reborn…" Tsuna bid them, "Lead the way Hibird." The yellow bird hopped off of Tsuna's finger then flew away with Tsuna in tow.

Reborn gritted his teeth as he watched the retreating back of Sawada Tsunayoshi, _Iemitsu, you idiot! You have no idea what you have overlooked._

_Review Please!_

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><p><strong>There you go! Hope you like this chapter as much as the last one... ^^ And one more thing, there is a possibility one chapter would consist only of past or present, depend on which I deemed more important. The fourth chapter in my plan probably consist of past alone~ <strong>

**There will be no pairing for now and definitely not SLASH! I will not write Tsuna cutely either, that's for Hibird and girls ;3  
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_Ciao minna~  
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	3. 2nd Axis

**09-04-2012 update: Fixed chapter by SkyGem  
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**BTW you might find it weird... you know if you have OC you would want to draw him/her out right? When I design Natsu I was only thinking of chibi version of Iemitsu XD with slightly obliviousness of Nana. For some reason when I draw him I was shocked to find the face of Emiya Shirou of all people on my drawing. My... so, if you want to know how Natsu looks like, just look at Emiya Shirou from Fate Stay Night... this means Iemitsu and Archer looks kind of... alike huh? Then again it's anime, you see a lot of look alike everywhere. Primo kind of looks like Fourth Hokage anyway!  
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**KHR is not mine... **

**Credit for editing this chapter goes to SkyGem,thank you for your time even though you have your own story. ;P She edited everything before contacting me BTW, what a speed ha ha ha.  
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**Thank you for those who have offered to beta this chapter ^^ I will contact you soon. I need time to choose, since well... I didn't expect quite a number of people offered their generous help ;_; I am so touched! I will contact one of you the day after tomorrow 11-04-2012, and off course I will inform other beta about it. I will not leave people hanging *bow* **

**Once again thank you very much for your support for this story. **

**Next update would be in two weeks.  
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><p><strong>Past: Storm's dynamite entry<strong>

He was just a little boy of ten years, but by no means was he naïve, since these continuing dream came to him. He thought it was his future, but then he noticed that the world of that dream was not the same as his. He was an only child and the room across his on the second floor was a storage room, and not Natsu's. His room had no big shelves full of literature books, nor was his room ever that messy.

It was…a parallel world.

At first it caught him off guard, but suddenly, the dreams made a lot of mysteries in his life make sense. The parallel world was parallel and all, but those dreams answered a lot of his questions. His father's unexplainable or rather poorly explained absence? He worked for the Vongola, though how high he was up there was unknown by Tsuna at this point. Tsuna was Giotto's descendant, and so was his father. Why was his brother with his father now? Probably mafia business; Tsuna would rather be blind, but he suspected that his younger twin was now in the mafia. One thing Tsuna could never relate to Natsuhiko with was his sense of adventure; if Tsuna would avoid mafia business like the plague, Natsuhiko would be drawn to it like moths to flame.

Where Tsuna would like to have nothing to do with mafia, like it or not, he had to know about it. He had a mother to be sheltered from that world, he had a father and a brother involved in it. He had dreams of a parallel world in which he was a boss in training. His parallel self was caught off guard and in a twister of events, was involved too deep whether he liked it or not; Tsuna didn't want that to happen to him. And he definitely didn't want anyone from the Vongola to find out what happened to him; they would ship him to his father in Italy the moment they found out.

The mafia, from what Tsuna could scrape together from Internet and books in the library, was a brutal society where violence was an industry. One of the books Tsuna found in Namimori Library made his blood cold run cold; it was the History of Cosa Nostra, written by John Dickie. Unlike fiction books or any movies Tsuna had ever watched and read, the depicted nothing but analysis' from evidence civilian could find about the secret society. To Tsuna, if with so little evidence, someone could draw a conclusion of how brutal the society was…the mafia was nothing but endless bloodshed.

Tsuna thought his dreams would be forever comical, with a running gag of him running around in his boxers like crazy. It was always him running into trouble and one way or another finding a way out with his dying will. Because the concept of such a comical life was surreal to him, Tsuna kept wondering what was so mafia-ish in that kind of hectic but relatively peaceful life.

He had his answer in the next dream, the first real dangerous taste of Cosa Nostra.

That hectic yet peaceful life in his dreams ended when suddenly, students from his school began to be targeted by unknown attackers, including Ryohei-senpai and then Gokudera. A certain series of events eventually led to the revelation that it was a group of escaped mafia prisoners, calling themselves the Kokuyo gang, who attacked them.

His blood ran cold when Reborn informed him that the ninth had made an impossible request through a letter. He was a middle school student who could only fight in his boxers with the help of a dying will bullet, and he had to capture a gang of criminals?

Was the Vongola so desperate for a strong heir that they had to push him to life and death situations for it?

No, there was something off in the Vongola upper echelon and Reborn knew it. Reborn didn't look pleased either despite the mischievous facade he put on; the Arcobaleno was furious, but there was nothing he could do but help his student as much as he could without being involved too much in his student's test.

Tsuna woke up from that dream in cold sweat after he saw Yamamoto barely survive his fight with Joshima Ken, wounding his precious hands in the process. The next thing he knew, he was knocking at Takesushi's door at 5AM in his pajamas, drenched in sweat with panic marring his face.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was shocked that day to find Takeshi awake much earlier than usual, consoling a crying Sawada Tsunayoshi, who looked like he had just went through hell. Tsuyoshi heard them talking about dreams; had the boy run to Takeshi just because of a nightmare? His son usually would have laughed it off and told his friend it was just a dream, but instead, Takeshi looked equally scared, and he was struggling to keep a forced smile in his face. One look at his son told him that he shouldn't pry into it.

The next day, Tsuyoshi was shocked to see his son prostrate himself on the ground and beg him to teach him **Shigure Soen Ryu. **Tsuyoshi could do nothing but relent, because Takeshi seemed firm in his goal to learn this skill; as a father, he could only hope he would never regret leading Takeshi onto the path of sword.

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><p>Sawada Tsunayoshi was more than just shocked after he woke up after the dream of his battle with Rokudo Mukuro. The revelation of a family such as Estraneo existing, the bloody world of the mafia that gave birth to Rokudo Mukuro and his ambition to destroy the <em>i<em>_nsignificant_ world…Tsuna just curled up in a fetal position on his bed as he cried. He was struggling to keep his face normal when he had breakfast with his oblivious mother. As he watched his mother looking forlornly at the empty chairs that belonged to Natsu and their father, he couldn't help but become angry at them. Why did they enter that dangerous world full of nothing but bloodshed? It was one thing if you were born in it, but Natsu had a choice, his father had a choice to not involve Natsu, but they chose that world!

When dreams about the Varia and the ring battle started, Tsuna was convinced he wanted nothing to do with mafia, but he had to protect those who were precious to him. And for that…

He needed the power to protect his life and family.

_Knowledge is power._

He had a lot of research ahead; he couldn't be blind to the world of the underground if he wanted to avoid it. The research, however, didn't progress past what he had done just to get a clue of what kind of world Cosa Nostra was. Knowledge you could get on the Internet and at the library only could get you so far; it was a secret society that was protected by the omerta.

Takeshi had seen Tsuna in the last few weeks working restlessly to improve himself in everything; he started to write notes and mnemonics to help him study. Tsuna surprisingly found joy in writing good notes, marking lines with color, drawing some illustration, creating mnemonics and so on. His grades had improved and he was now scoring Bs and Cs in class instead of his usual Ds. His teachers became kinder and supportive of him, especially after they saw his notes. Some students became jealous that Dame-Tsuna had suddenly become a teacher's pet, but no one dared to bully him anymore in fear they would be in Yamamoto's bad books. Tsuna was also a close friend of the Sasagawa siblings; many students were puzzled at how Dame-Tsuna could suddenly make _connections _that boosted his social standing in school.

Hatred and jealousy didn't stay for long in the society of Namimori elementary school in regards to Sawada Tsunayoshi. Students, especially classmates of Tsuna, soon found he was not someone you could hate once you paid attention to him long enough, and that he was not so dame now, even though he was still clumsy from time to time. He never refused to let people copy his notes, even giving tips on how to make study easier. Tsuna was very kind to everyone, and he had calming presence that made people feel comfortable just with staying around him.

Tsuna was well aware that he had become more popular, and now everyone wanted to be his friend. While he was happy, at the same time he was saddened because people only approached him when he was no longer a failure. Tsuna knew it was wrong to fault people for wanting to be friends with someone popular, but he couldn't help but keep them at arm's length. He was genial to everyone, giving them the impression that they were his friends. But as far as Tsuna was concerned, his real friends were Takeshi, Ryohei, Kyouko, and considered all friends he met in that dream was not official yet (for now)

Sawada Nana might be the happiest person at Tsuna's improvement, and Tsuna was relieved that his mother had discarded the thought of being a mother who would never demand anything from him in the future, like he had seen in that dream. His mother was kind and naïve, sometimes bordering on stupidity. Tsuna was well aware his mother was just trying to not pressure him to do better in study, especially now that her other son was taken by Iemitsu to improve himself. Nana was scared that her Tsu-kun would be taken away too.

He understood his mother's fears, but at the same time felt powerless to ease that fear. All Tsuna could think of was looking for more information about the mafia and how they operated; he was not disillusioned to thinking he could get away from the Vongola just because they had someone else to be Decimo. Anything could go wrong, and as much as Tsuna hated to think about it, his twin might not survive. Vongola had lost three heirs; what could guarantee them not losing the fourth one? Tsuna would never forgive his father or himself if the worst case scenario happened.

Takeshi tried to help him, but it seemed he did not belong in the research department. He was an action type of guy, so instead of helping Tsuna read books, Takeshi made use of the thick books of "Laws in Italian Society" as his pillow. Tsuna face-palmed when Takeshi was forever banned from Namimori Library after he drooled on the book; the librarian had been furious.

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><p><strong>Asari-gumi Dojo<strong>

Tsuyoshi was not at home because he had to fetch fish supplies for their sushi bar, so the boys had all the privacy they needed in the Yamamoto family's dojo. Sitting in the seiza position on the wooden floor of the dojo, they held two cups of steaming tea by their sides.

"Takeshi…" Tsuna tried to console the downhearted baseball player after he was kicked out of the library, "I guess you are just not suitable for this kind of thing…it's fine Takeshi, I am planning to look for information somewhere else anyway." Hopefully not somewhere illegal, if he could afford it.

The dark haired youth's lips curved down, "I just can't let you do this on your own Tsuna, but I just can't stay awake when I look at so much writing, black and white pictures and everything…" He threw his arms into the air in frustration; it was rare to see Takeshi so thoughtful and depressed. Tsuna thought in amusement, Takeshi was never so… _rainy_ like this; he was always sunny despite being his rain. "How you can stay awake after reading so much, Tsuna?"

He blushed a deep red, "Uhm… anything that fascinates me, I can read no matter how much there is, and history is one of the things that interest me. I will barely be able to read the first paragraph if it's science, though."

Studying was never his forte with the exception of literature, because he liked reading stories and poems. Recently, he rather liked history too, since it was stories of the past and his research on mafia was all about the history of Sicily. He hoped that for future research he didn't need to go around sketchy places, but what choice did he have left? Maybe he could sneak into his parents' bedroom in the hope that his father had left some documents? No, his father would never ever bring anything related to the mafia to their house. But still…he should try it when his mother went shopping; he might find something in Italian, but then he had to learn the language…Tsuna was once again sunk deep in his thoughts.

A grin returned to Takeshi's face when a thought crossed his mind, "By the way Tsuna, at times like this, I can't help but wish Hayato was around."

Tsuna sighed, "If he was here, we would not even need to research about the mafia…" Tsuna answered absentmindedly.

"Why?" Takeshi asked in a clueless manner.

The brunette almost rolled his eyes, "Duh, Hayato is an Italian, and he was born to…" His eyes widened, "Oh!" Tsuna exclaimed, "Hayato was in the mafia since he was born!"

Takeshi's grin widened, "Then we only need to look for him! Where is he again?"

The shorter boy eyed him in disbelief, "Er… Takeshi, he is in Italia now. Remember that he was a transfer student from Italy when we met him for the first time?"

He blinked at that and then his expression became thoughtful, "Come to think of it, before I went to confront you about our dream, I was expecting Hayato would have approached you before I did." Tsuna raised an eyebrow at him; the supposed right hand man probably just had not had his dreams yet, and Takeshi had his around two weeks after Tsuna's first dream. "I mean…the Hayato I know would have leapt across from Italy for you Tsuna; the dream to him must be like a beckoning from God."

Tsuna face-palmed at that, "Takeshi…even though I admit that Hayato is very devoted to me in that dream, there are a few factors on why he hasn't come," he stated calmly, "First he might have had that dream at all; second, he never met me in person; and third, he is in Italy and ten-years-old to boot." Tsuna listed down, "I mean…it's impossible for him to get here; last time it was Reborn who called him from Italy."

"Oh…" Takeshi looked sad at the prospect that they couldn't see their favorite bomber in the near future, "Well…the second one can apply to me too. No offense Tsuna… but you never really stood out in our school, and I had to ask around which class you are in or if anyone knew you. If it wasn't for Sasagawa Kyouko who told me about you, I might have had to ask people in the neighborhood. But nevertheless, I confronted you."

The brunette blushed a deep red again, "You know, despite his delinquent look, Hayato is a genius and aside from a few things," -namely his fascination with UMAs and supernatural things, "he is the logical type of person, and not so open about these kinds of unexplainable things, such as prophetic dreams." Reading a lot of philosophical books did wonders to how Tsuna analyzed his surroundings. "He even tried to teach me swimming with physics calculations." Tsuna sighed at that memory, wondering how a swimming lesson could be so hectic. Fortunately, he could swim unlike his alternate self, enough to not drown that is.

Takeshi laughed at that, "Ah, his explanation is very confusing! Mine is better right?"

_Both of you don't make sense at all actually, _Tsuna thought as he sweat-dropped at the grinning Takeshi. "Anyway…" Tsuna tried to change the topic, "I have come to the conclusion that the people most likely to dream about this future parallel world are those who are in possession of the Vongola rings."

Takeshi nodded in agreement as he counted on his fingers, "That means…you, me, Hayato, Ryohei-senpai, Lambo, Chrome, Mukuro, and Kyoya," he listed on.

Tsuna blanched at the last two names, "I can't imagine how Mukuro and Kyoya will react if they suddenly dream it." Of all people he could get as guardians, Reborn specifically chose the most bloodthirsty people he knew. "Anyway, the only people we have near are Ryohei-senpai and Kyoya. Lambo is probably just a baby by now in Italy, Hayato is the same case, Mukuro…he is probably either still with the Estraneo, or Lanchia-san." Tsuna would like to do something for Mukuro and Lanchia if he could, but for now, there was nothing he could do. "I know Chrome is somewhere in Japan, she might not live in Namimori though… " As far as he knew, the girl just suddenly appeared as Mukuro's proxy, no information about her other than her name and relationship with Mukuro; Chrome Dokuro was obviously not her real name either.

"Hm…"

"There is also a chance I'm wrong, since this is a parallel world; of course there was more than only the existence of my brother that made this world different from the one we dreamed of," Tsuna explained to the taller boy. "Not to mention we don't have a clue who was behind these dreams and why."

Takeshi nodded in agreement, "By the way, do you think our alternate selves know about this at all?"

Tsuna shrugged, "I have no idea..."

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><p><strong>Vongola Decimo's Parallel World<strong>

Shouichi Irie jumped in fright when Tsuna called him, "Shouichi-kun, what was Byakuran doing in your lab yesterday?" the tenth boss of the Vongola asked sternly as he discarded his white cloak to hang on his chair. Then he sat gracefully on the grand armchair, eyeing his mechanic, who was fidgeting uncomfortably under his gaze.

He looked at anything but his boss' eyes; it had been almost three months since they conducted the experiment, and miraculously, no one had noticed yet, not even Tsuna. "Uhm…he was just playing around! You know him, hahaha…" That was not exactly a lie; when Byakuran was concerned, experimenting with parallel worlds and playing around were the same thing.

Tsuna sighed wearily; he had forgiven his fellow sky guardian, but sometimes he couldn't help but be wary of the white haired sky. "Whatever, Shouichi-kun, I trust you to keep him in line." Shouichi gulped at that wearily. "For some reason, though, I have a feeling that he is up to something I wouldn't like." The grin he saw on Byakuran's face yesterday was alarming his hyper intuition for some reason.

Shouichi's mind swirled in panic as he flapped his arms up and down, "I am sure it's just your imagination, Tsunayoshi-kun! Nothing you should be worried about!"

The boss looked up from his seat at the panicking Shouichi, raising an eyebrow at his statement. "Shouichi-kun, who am I?"

He blinked at that, "Err… Sawada Tsunayoshi and Vongola…" He paused at that, "Ah… your hyper intuition…" he mumbled nervously. "I assure you, we did nothing! You can relax boss!"

Vongola Decimo tapped his finger impatiently on his desk; it seemed his hyper intuition was once again right on the mark. "'We?' Did I say anything about _you_ being involved in whatever I suspect Byakuran is doing?" he asked in the calmest voice he could muster.

**Crap!**

Tsuna smiled angelically to Shouichi, who was holding his stomach. In spite of that smile, Shouichi wondered which idiot nicknamed their boss Il Santo di Cielo. Because behind his boss was an image of a furious, roaring lion, which was not at all angelic or holy, just as scary as hell. "You better start talking _now,_ Shouichi-kun," he advised in a dangerously sweet voice that sent shiver to his spine in a very bad way.

Twenty minutes later, all the Mafioso in the Vongola HQ were gaping at the sight of the sky flame spitting out from all windows of Tsuna's office.

**"BYAKURAN GESSO! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"**

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><p>"AHA!" Takeshi exclaimed, "How about your hyper intuition Tsuna? Feel anything?"<p>

The brunette face-palmed; that was another issue he was concerned about. "Takeshi, to awaken my hyper intuition, I'd have to be in a life or death situation." At a beaming smile from Takeshi, Tsuna sighed, "Life or death situation in that dream don't count, and I would never put myself in that kind of situation if I could help it," he stated sternly, earning him a sigh of relief from Takeshi. Since his almost suicide, dream Yamamoto Takeshi had always frowned upon any self-destructing behavior. "I am not that desperate for it."

"Is that so…" Takeshi titled his head to the side, "But still…one of these days, you should train too, Tsuna," he advised the shorter boy, "Just in case; at least to defend yourself…I know you hate fighting."

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "I know Takeshi, but you see…" he trailed of tiredly, "I don't want to use a sword like you, even if I could try," he stated softly, "Since I already have memories of it, it would be easier to try gloves but…"

"You can ask Ryohei-senpai for advice right?" Takeshi suggested. "You can even join his boxing club; he always wanted to recruit us, right?"

Tsuna face-palmed again at the suggestion, "Erm…Takeshi, my mother would freak out if suddenly" -he pointed at his face- "This frail son of hers joined the boxing club, not to mention that it might alarm her enough to call my father."

Takeshi flinched at the prospect. "Ouch!"

"Not to mention that Ryohei-senpai has been too eager about recruiting me in the last few days, he's… " Tsuna paused hesitantly, "Started dreaming too..."

Takeshi blinked at that, "How do you know?"

Tsuna fidgeted at that, "He might have implied he had yesterday; he said something along the lines of him having had an extreme boxing match with me in a dream and also wanting that to be a reality."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow at that, "Don't tell me…"

He nodded, "It seems for the next few weeks he will kept thinking those extreme dreams are figments of his imagination," Tsuna said in a depressed tone, "I have no idea how to break it to him later." Either he would think Tsuna was joking, or be excited because those extreme dreams were real in another world. Knowing Ryohei, it would be the latter.

"Okay..." Takeshi trailed off, "How about Hibari?"

Tsuna face-palmed, "Uhm...not much contact with him; he is one grade above us." Actually Hibari Kyouya sometimes glanced in his direction curiously before shaking his head, as if brushing off his imagination. Tsuna was literally trembling on his feet whenever he noticed Hibari's eyes on him, and he was not going to tell Takeshi that. Knowing the baseball star, he would confront Hibari cheerfully to confirm it. "Anyway…Ryohei-senpai would be fine; we don't have to worry too much about him and if we are lucky…" Tsuna trailed off, "Maybe he will figured it out on his own." Which was unlikely, to say the least, since it was his sun they were talking about; the man who was driven by his guts. "And I have another concern that's more pressing actually…"

His ears perking up at that, Takeshi leaned forward to hear. "What is it?"

Tsuna took a sip of warm tea slowly, "Uhm…it feels as if someone is following me lately."

"Ah!" Yamamoto looked like he had another eureka moment. "Is it your…"

"I don't need hyper intuition to know someone is stalking me Takeshi…" Tsuna didn't want his friend to have high hopes of him awakening his hyper intuition anytime soon. "Sometimes at night, I see someone on a tree near my window; it's dark, so I could just barely see the silhouette. When we go home from school, sometimes I see someone hide behind a utility pole, trash bin, or bush among all things…"

Yamamoto tensed, "A stalker? But it may be… your father's subordinate, you know… he might have assigned someone to guard your family."

Tsuna shook his head, "I can assure you my father did no such thing." He stated firmly, "Knowing my father, if he wanted to keep us out of the Vongola he would really do it. He would not even tell anyone where we lived or anything about us; if anyone in the Vongola knew, it would be only The Ninth, and no one else."

"Hoo…" Yamamoto's mouth opened in a big O, "How you can be so sure Tsuna?"

Tsuna had a deadpan expression at that, "If someone was really following us under my father's order, they would at least be a decent illusionist so I couldn't notice them stalking me. Besides…" Tsuna snorted, "That no good father cut me and my mother out of communication from Natsu; after going that far to keep us out I expect he should have the decency to let us have a private life."

"And that stalker?" Yamamoto asked curiously. His cup of tea rose to his lips.

Tsuna sighed wearily. "No idea…" he answered honestly. "I have no idea who is stalking me, why we have dreams of this parallel future, or even what it's for…" he said as he sipped his tea, which had become colder.

**"Like hell you don't,"**

A voice that was so familiar was heard just from outside of the shoji door, but not as deep and devoid of emotion. Tsuna's and Yamamoto's eyes widened when the door was opened roughly and a silver haired boy entered the room with three stick of dynamites in his left hand with a scowl marring his face. "You UMA…alien!"

Tsuna and Yamamoto spit out their tea at the same time; what had he called them? Tsuna stood up hastily; he recognized the silver haired boy, even if the one in front of him was younger. He was dressed neatly in black pants and a red button-up with a black undershirt, and looked like he had just swallowed his spleen. Tsuna gulped, "Goku…dera Hayato-kun?" Tsuna asked as he eyed the dynamite sticks in Gokudera's hand nervously. He'd almost had a heart attack! Why he was here?

Takeshi, on the other hand, didn't share Tsuna's nervousness as he raised his hand, "Yo! Hayato! I thought you are in Italy?"

Hayato snorted, "I was…" he answered tonelessly, "As expected! You guys are aliens who disguised themselves as humans!" he accused them, waving the fortunately unlit dynamite in their direction.

The baseball player looked shocked, and Tsuna gaped at the accusation. "Hah? What are you talking about Ha…Gokudera-kun?" In this situation, Tsuna didn't think his storm would appreciate being addressed with his first name.

The storm for some reason perked up when Tsuna called his name, but quickly shook his head. "You will not fool me! I have been following you for three days and you are so fucking normal!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped; so the stalker was Hayato? "Erm…if I'm normal…doesn't that mean that I'm not an alien?" he asked nervously.

"You must have stolen the knowledge of how to act like a normal human from your experiment subject!" On second thought, Tsuna took back his previous statement about Gokudera being a very logical person. "You kidnapped a human, cut open their head to steal their knowledge, then you disguised yourself, pretending to be the one you kidnapped!" Tsuna stared at his supposed right hand man in disbelief; he suddenly barged into to Takeshi's dojo and start spouting things that sounded like they were copied from cheap sci-fi novels. Very stormy indeed.

"I was eavesdropping on your conversation just now! And you guys were spouting non-sense about parallel worlds! Nice try! You must have noticed I was around and tried to fool me!" he yelled angrily.

Tsuna cringed at the volume; not as bad as Ryohei, but bad nonetheless. They never noticed Hayato was outside; their alternate selves might have noticed, but they were ten years old for God's sake! Takeshi laughed at that, "That's one interesting story though…seriously Hayato, you were always the smart guy in our group! What's with the sci-fi story?"

"You can't fool me, alien!" Gokudera shouted at Yamamoto, then turned to Tsuna. "I don't know what you've done to my head, but I demand for you to fix it!" he demanded angrily.

Tsuna blinked; suddenly, everything just made sense in his mind (kind of). "Err…don't tell me, you…you think…" Tsuna stuttered uneasily, "those dreams are my doing? That…I'm an alien who kidnapped you before, cut your head open, then planted those dreams in your head?" Tsuna concluded in disbelief.

"Exactly!" the silver haired boy exclaimed triumphantly, "You thought I'd never figure it out, alien?" Even Takeshi, who was usually unflappable when it came to outrageous things, was gaping at Gokudera in disbelief. "Next time, try to plant a sensible dream! No one is going to be fooled by such a nonsensical dream!"

Both of them blinked, ironically eyeing the silver haired Mafioso as if he was some sort of alien that had replaced the Gokudera Hayato they knew from their dreams. Considering his mafia background, by all rights, their dream was supposed to have made the most sense to Gokudera of all people. Mafia, flames, escaped prisoners, and assassin squads were supposed to be not a big surprise for a boy who was in the mafia since he was born.

"Hold your horse Hayato," Takeshi said with a big grin, and then paused. "I should say that to Dino-san one day…" Tsuna face-palmed at that. "Anyway what's not made sense to you in those dreams? I mean, the mafia and flames are unusual for me and Tsuna, but for you?" Tsuna thought the same thing; Gokudera's reaction to that dream was kind of off.

"I compliment your effort about that part, alien!" he huffed haughtily, "It's very real, but sadly you made a huge mistake in plotting that fake dreams in me!" Both of them were speechless, waiting quietly for their silver haired friend to finish his theory. "The both of you in that dream are the part that made no sense!"

They fell loudly to the wooden floor, of all the things in that outrageous in that dream, it was Tsuna and Takeshi that didn't make sense? Tsuna stood up shakily, "Uhm…what do you mean?"

The bomber pointed an accusing finger at Takeshi who was still struggling to stand up, "First! This baseball idiot!"

"Yep, that's me!" came the very Yamamoto Takeshi-ish response.

"What kind of person could be so goofy all day? Thinking the mafia is an RPG game after almost getting killed so many times with _real _weapons? Head full of baseball, milk and sushi!" he listed on in frustration.

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well, that's me I guess…it's the kind of person I am." That was not a compliment but Takeshi acted like it was, and that irked Hayato even more.

Tsuna face-palmed; it seemed even here Takeshi could just naturally rub Hayato the wrong way. "And you!" Tsuna blinked when Hayato was pointing at him. "A very impossible existence!" He had to wonder which part of him that was impossible. "The boss I saw in that dream is a too damn good person!" Hayato said, blushing a deeper red. Tsuna blinked repeatedly, torn between confused and embarrassed. "What kind of person…" Hayato began dramatically, fist clenched close to his chest, "Can be so caring, kind, selfless, noble…"

Tsuna and Takeshi blinked as the list went on, "Strong, honest, generous, and also…"

**Ten minutes later…**

"So in conclusion…" the silver haired boy said dramatically, ignoring his spectators who at one point chose to have a seat and watch him ranting about a certain benevolent boss. Tsuna thought in the middle of it that he was close to digging a hole in Yamamoto's dojo just to hide himself. Even if Hayato was talking about his alternate self, it was still him Hayato was talking about. "Such an amazing person is too far-fetched to exist!"

"Uhm…" Tsuna tried to reason, "It's **your** imagination," he pointed out nervously; he honestly thought both he and his alternate self were a decent person at best, if not dame at almost everything in life. "Look Gokudera-kun, I am not an alien, Takeshi is not an alien…we both dreamed the same dream you have." Tsuna tried to explain nervously, "Your head is fine, Gokudera-kun…"

He raised an eyebrow at Tsuna, arms crossed on his chest in an intimidating manner. "And I...am supposed to believe that?"

"I am telling you the truth," Tsuna replied, "Look Gokudera-kun, you may deny what you don't want to believe, but I have no reason to lie to you," Tsuna pointed out desperately; at this rate, they would be engaged in a long argument, and Tsuna didn't like it. He had expected some of his friends wouldn't react to what they had seen in the dream nicely, in fact Tsuna had feared in the last few weeks that Kyoya would bite him to death the moment the dream start, but he hadn't expected Gokudera of all people to react like this.

Hayato blushed a deep red then sputtered, "You have! You're trying to brainwash me to be your underling!"

Something inside Tsuna snapped, and Takeshi narrowed his eyes dangerously at the accusation. The dark haired boy stood up, and Hayato backed away nervously. "That was uncalled for, Gokudera Hayato…" he hissed angrily.

Hayato stopped himself from backing away any further, standing up proudly before retorting back, "Shut up, baseball freak!" He was about to blurt out another insult, but froze in his tracks when his eyes automatically locked onto Tsuna's.

It was hard not to, since the weather outside, which was once was sunny, had now became dark, rain and storm clashing in the chaos. His chocolate brown eyes had become a lighter shade of gold, contrasting with the dim light of the dojo.

Tsuna gritted his teeth together, then he growled in an uncharacteristically deep voice that sent shivers down their spines, **"Underling? Don't ever accuse me of wanting such a thing from anyone, and definitely **_**not **_**you, Gokudera Hayato!" **

The effect of his voice was instantaneous; soon, Hayato's feet started to tremble, and he collapsed on the wooden floor. He stood up shakily, his face a mix of sadness, fear, and most of all guilt. He bowed down hastily, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I am SORRY! SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Tsuna snapped back to reality, startled to see Hayato cowering before him, looking like a child that had been scolded harshly, "Gokudera-kun…I am…" Tsuna froze in his tracks as he watched Hayato sprint away with tears on his face; what he had done? Tsuna collapsed on the floor, curled up in a fetal position as Takeshi tried to calm him down.

Takeshi was startled to hear anger in Tsuna's voice, someone he thought was not capable of anger, and definitely not towards them. But then again, Takeshi understood that Hayato had said the thing that would upset Tsuna the most. Dame-Tsuna was someone who had been looked down upon by everyone; the mere thought he would treat someone, most of all his friend, like an underling was a sickening thought for Tsuna. Despite his mild nature, Tsuna despised being looked down upon, especially after the dreams came to him, and the revelation that he was capable of something more, Tsuna promised himself to never be looked down upon by anyone, and vice versa if he could help it.

"Takeshi…I make him run away from me…" Tsuna said in trembling voice, and it sounded as if he was close to broke in tears.

Takeshi shook his head. "Tsuna…" Takeshi said softly, "I know what he did was really stupid, but I am sure he didn't mean it," he said with a grin, "Hayato will return to you, Tsuna, you… are our sky after all."

Tsuna sniffed, then looked up with glassy chocolate eyes. "What do you mean?"

Takeshi laughed, "You will find out soon enough!"

* * *

><p>He did find out sooner than he thought; Tsuna also learned that he should start taking what Takeshi said literally. Tsuna tried his best to ignore his supposed right hand man's not so subtle stalking. It seemed Hayato, at the young age of ten, had not learned stealth. Even if Mafioso weren't ninjas, they were supposed to at least be capable of enough stealth to pass civilian's eyes, Reborn had said in his last dream. Takeshi guessed that Hayato was stalking them to catch Tsuna shedding his human skin, and much to Tsuna's ire, that was probably the case.<p>

Even so, Tsuna found that he couldn't feel annoyed at Hayato for long; especially since he had seen how devoted the storm was once he had his loyalty. Tsuna, after spending so much time followed by him, started to understand why Hayato acted like this. The storm was scared to believe someone could accept him, that the dream was just his wishful thinking. The desire to pledge loyalty to someone worthy, but unable to believe himself worthy for anyone to accept…

* * *

><p><strong>A Few days Later<strong>

Tsuna was surprised when they found out that Hayato was staying in Japan with his guardian in a mansion on the outskirts of Namimori. At first, they though it was Shamal, but the man who confronted them at the school gates and apologized for his charge's behavior was someone who looked nothing like the perverted doctor. Parallel world or not, Tsuna was sure he could recognize Shamal even if the man looked different. Hayato's guardian was undoubtedly someone else. The man was in his thirties, dressed in a white coat that reminded them of Shamal's one, with a pink undershirt and dark blue pants. His long hair was the weirdest hair they had ever seen. And considering they had seen Lambo's afro and Lussuria's mohawk, that was saying something. Hayato's guardian's hair was very long and reached past his knees. It was also colored white, blue, green and pink along each strand. His face had sharp, defined features, making him rather effeminate. At first sight, you'd think he was someone like Lussuria, but he surprisingly had a stern voice, and move confidently like a man.

"I am Professor Innocenti Sani, Hayato's guardian and mentor." He was someone completely unknown to them, "So you are those friends he was visiting when I couldn't find him anywhere in our home."

Even though Tsuna and Takeshi would like to consider themselves Hayato's friends, they were not official yet, and Hayato didn't visit them, he was stalking them. "Uhm yes…" At least now this man thought Hayato was visiting them, before he was under the impression that Hayato was bullying them.

"You guys look nothing like aliens to me," the effeminate man said thoughtfully. Crap! Hayato didn't spill anything to Prof. Innocenti, did he?

Tsuna looked at the blue eyed man; he had curious eyes, but not hostile. "There has been a little misunderstanding." A little was pushing it. Actually, it was an extreme case of denial mixed with Hayato's fascination with UMAs.

Innocenti smiled at that, "That boy have went through a lot, the list of my worries when we moved to Japan was endless..." He shook his head, "You boys seems much more mature than most, especially since you have not complained to me for that boy's eccentricities." One way or another, Tsuna had gotten used to it in the past few days. "He was not originally my, ward but someone else's... an acquaintance of mine." Tsuna raised an eyebrow; could it be Shamal? "Let's say his line of work is not suitable to raise a kid. I was about to leave anyway, so Hayato's previous guardian entrusted him to me." Tsuna's eyes widened at that; so this man was possibly a doctor or a scientist for the mafia. He was planning to escape the mafia world and Shamal had saddled Hayato with him? "I am not interested in raising kids..." Innocenti rambled on, "But his aesthetic sense made me want to keep him around as an assistant."

"Oh…" Takeshi and Tsuna said in unison. Why could this man so carelessly ramble on about something like this? They were kids, so maybe that's why he let his guard down to tell them.

"By the way…" Innocenti started, "Would you like to come to my house?" he offered. Tsuna and Takeshi looked at each other, then nodded hastily, since they didn't trust their mouth to not cheer at the generous offer.

They were not going to turn away from their storm this time; the turbulent storm was just for a brief moment, but the breeze of wind would never leave the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Future: Untouchable Sky <strong>

Sawada Iemitsu always had a goofy smile on his face and the air of a happy go lucky man. It was easy to forget he was one of the most dangerous men in the mafia world. He was fiercely loyal to his famiglia, and Timoteo had absolute faith in him. Reborn acknowledge the man as someone who, despite his lack of brain, most of the time was someone their family could rely on. The hitman also knew how much the goofy man loved his wife and sons to the point that information about them was an S-class secret that even Reborn barely knew.

At first, Reborn thought Iemitsu was extremely paranoid in regards to his family, especially since he brought his youngest to Italy to be trained for Vongola boss' seat. Reborn was not appointed to be Natsuhiko's mentor right away; for most of his stay in Italy, Natsu only had contact with Iemitsu's closest acquaintance, The Ninth, and his guardians.

Suddenly, Iemitsu decided his son's training should be continued in Japan, where he would be reunited with Nana and his old twin. Reborn was introduced to Natsuhiko one month before his departure to Japan. That also the same time Reborn was informed that Natsu was not the only son of Iemitsu; there was an older twin. Iemitsu didn't look concerned about sharing information about Natsu to Reborn or the rest of famiglia, but when it came to his oldest, the man was strangely tight lipped. Iemitsu refused to give Reborn an explanation and wearily told the arcobaleno that he will understand once he met Natsu's twin in person.

Reborn was shocked when he first laid his eyes on Sawada Tsunayoshi, the first son of Iemitsu Sawada and older twin of Natsuhiko. The boy had a striking resemblance to Vongola Primo with exception of his hair color. It was no wonder Iemitsu was fiercely secretive about his existence. Sawada Tsunayoshi would find nothing but trouble with that face of his in the mafia world. Iemitsu also mentioned his oldest was sickly and frail when he was small, a shy child that always cowered behind Natsu or their mother, openly detached in regards to his father. In short, the reasons he chose Natsu instead of his older twin as boss candidate.

The Sawada Tsunayoshi he met was nothing like Iemitsu described, excluding how the boy seemed to look down upon his elusive father. Reborn didn't miss how the boy's eyes lost their luster the moment Natsu mentioned their father. It was something Iemitsu blamed himself for, his mistake as a father. It seemed the boy had grown to be someone unknown by his brother and father on purpose. Reborn found that surprisingly, Natsu seemed uncomfortable and confused at how to treat this new brother of his.

Reborn didn't have siblings; the few memories he had in regards to his biological family implied he was the only child so he had no idea what to do when Natsu looked so depressed just because his brother had become someone unrecognizable, or that inferiority complex and rivalry Reborn heard often happened in brotherhood. The latter had definitely applied to The Ninth's late sons, which led to their demise at each other's' hands. If the former was the case, Reborn would be sorely disappointed in the student he just had for one month. All humans grew up to be themselves, and Sawada Tsunayoshi did just that; his student should do the same and not looked at his father all the time as a beacon of what kind of man he had to become.

Iemitsu was one of the best in his generation, but what Vongola needed was not a second coming of the Vongola's young lion as their boss. One of the many things he had to teach to Natsu was independence, and he planned to whip that backbone to grow in Natsu even if the boy had to bleed for it. After so much fuss, Reborn dragged his depressed student toward the Namimori computer lab.

They had a research to do.

Reborn watched his student typing in his student id and name to log in to the Namimori school website; he had a bored expression on his face, but Reborn knew he would be interested soon in what they were doing. He stepped on Natsu's hand, which was holding the mouse, to click on the link he wanted, and Natsu cursed extravagantly at Reborn in Italian. As the page was loading, Reborn took note to correct the boy's language. Contrary to civilians' beliefs, high ranked Mafioso didn't curse and paid attention to mastering a profound and sophisticated manner in speaking Italian. It must be that brat Ganauche who taught Natsu how to curse in Italian behind Iemitsu's back, thinking it would be hilarious when Iemitsu found out. Sometimes, Reborn really hated how Iemitsu's childhood friend tried to outwit the CEDEF leader for amusement's sake.

"So…can you tell me why you want me to see this bloody school website?"

Other than backbone, Reborn also noted he had to find a way to grow more brain cells, because except when it was about fighting, both Iemitsu and Natsu seriously lacked in that department. "Because I want you to do some research on your brother, Baka-Natsu."

Natsu's eyes widened, "Are you crazy? Why should I? He is my brother and I won't…"

Reborn rolled his eyes, "I didn't ask you to stalk him; you guys live in the same house anyway, and not to mention his profile on this website is public information that could be accessed by anyone at this school. I just want you to have a clue what kind of man your brother is."

Natsu's eyes lightened up at the prospect of finding out what his brother had been doing since he left Japan, and Reborn wondered if the boy noticed him refer to Tsuna as a man when Natsu was a brat and, when Reborn was in a particularly good mood, a boy. On second thought, even if he was too unobservant for a boss in training, Reborn thought Natsu was better off oblivious for now; he was not mature enough to have his pride beaten.

"Hmm…so Tsuna's class is 2-Z, a special class…" Natsu whispered in awe, "Let's see…Sawada Tsunayoshi, president of Namimori Gakuen's student council…oh…" A pause, and then, "EH?"

"I thought you knew that your school only had one student council?" Reborn said tonelessly. "Baka Natsu, even simple research of your school is too much for you."

Natsu scowled at Reborn, then calmed himself down. It wouldn't bode well if he responded to Reborn's baiting all the time. "How the hell could my brother run this school from Kindergarten to Senior High? Wouldn't upperclassman say something about the whole school being governed by someone much younger than they are?"

Reborn snorted, "The Imonoyamas, who own this school, value talent more than anything, and all of their schools are full of talented students,"hHe explained with a smirk, "The headmaster set a very high standard for the member of the student council. Where normally a Student Council consists of more than six members, depending on how big the school is…Clamp school consist of around ten thousand students, but one council only has one president, secretary and treasurer."

Natsu's left eye twitched, "No wonder the standard is high, so little people to govern ten thousand students? The Imonoyamas are a little weird in the head…" he commented.

"According to this website, since Namimori only has one council for the whole school, there are ten members on the council, including your brother," Reborn said as he scrolled down the page. "Now look at this."

The brunette hummed, "It says my brother is a very talented student when it comes to literature, art and history. He also ranks first academically in the Junior high school division," he sighed tiredly, "So that's why he is the kaichou…" Natsu grumbled in a bored tone. "Hey Reborn…seriously, this profile of his tells me almost nothing. It's brimming with praises for his achievements as a student and nothing else. It's cool that he sometimes holds seminars in Clamp university about that philosophy and literature mumbo jumbo he liked since we was small…so what about it?" Natsu had come to the conclusion that his brother had advanced beyond him academically since he heard Tsuna skipped a grade, and it seemed he was a genius in literature too. No big surprise, since he recalled Tsuna liked to hole himself up in the library literature section since they were small. Not to mention the number of novels, classic poetry and other literature books he saw arranged neatly in the living room bookshelves, which were massive. Tsuna must have run out of space in his bedroom for his books.

"Tell me something useful I can read here…" he grumbled lazily, he hated reading and the only thing he dreaded about the boss' seat was the mountain of paperwork that came with it.

Reborn was tempted to shoot Natsu at that very moment, once again chanting mentally about how important Natsu was as Vongola heir and also that Nonno was counting on him. "This is a school website, what else do you expect? Of course it will contain his information as a student."

"Okay… so what's the oh so important information you want me to look up?"

The hitman smirked, "Students who work under him, so in other words…" he trailed off theatrically, "The student council members he chose…"

* * *

><p>Tsuna looked around as he walked back to his office, relieved that no one was in the vicinity. The corridor he was walking through was seldom used by anyone but SC members, since it led to their office. He shed his calm mask and replaced it with a wide, beaming grin. Hibird turned around and hopped back to his shoulder.<p>

He laughed, "Hahaha! That was fun!"

Hibird titled his head to the side chirping out, "Kaichou? Kaichou?"

Tsuna grinned at Hibari's partner, saying, "I'm fine Hibird, it's just so funny…" he muttered softly, "You recorded everything?"

His small head bobbed up and down, "Mission complete! Complete!"

The brunette smiled as he untied Hibird's choker and carefully examined the mini camera that was disguised as the Namimori Gakuen's emblem. "I guess Reborn noticed, but he probably thought this was just a security measure." His grin widened, "That's dangerous, but this was totally worth it!" Then he turned around, grinning at the sight of a panting Gokudera, who had probably heard his last sentence. "Hello Hayato! You were looking for me?"

The silver haired teen was wearing a custom-made Namimori uniform like Tsuna's, with an orange rim on the jacket and the school's emblem on its tie. He wore glasses like Tsuna, and his silver hair was tied in a ponytail, giving him a studious appearance.

Hayato nodded frantically, then gulped down generous amounts of oxygen before he spoke, "That was seriously dangerous! What were you thinking, kaichou? Imitating that baseball idiot Takeshi? What if Reborn-san becomes suspicious of you? What if he reports this to the Vongola? Think of how dangerous the stunt you just pulled was! I was so worried when I was watching it from the security camera on Hibird! And that baseball idiot was laughing and rolling on the floor! Shouichi is in the infirmary because of a stomach-ache after watching that! How could you disregard your safety like that?"

Gokudera stopped his rant and panted, then once again was about to take another deep breath, but Tsuna cut him off. "Hayato, stop ranting, please. I am not suicidal, and did nothing that could endanger myself. You know that…"

The right hand man's left eye twitched, "I also know that our esteemed kaichou's sense of self-preservation sometimes takes a temporary leave, seeing your dangerous sense of amusement just now..." It was rare for Gokudera to use sarcasm on Tsuna, of all people, but it showed how seriously concerned he was.

Tsuna smiled sheepishly, saying, "It's Reborn… Hayato."

"Exactly…" He face-palmed. "Please… I understand why you did that, but… "

The president sighed, "Hayato…you are my right hand man; you should know Reborn will live in my house from now on. It's impossible to stay in low profile with him around, so I decided to take an alternative way…"

"I…you have told me" he said, gritting his teeth, "But I am still wary of using this plan on the Vongola and Reborn."

He shook his head, "Hayato, trust me… "

The silver haired man sighed. "That's not something you have to ask of me, we… would never distrust you…"

Tsuna smiled at that, saying softly, "Thank you, Hayato…"

* * *

><p>The bell that signalled that school had ended for the day echoed through the halls and classrooms, and Natsu shut down the computer in a hurry, and rushed back to his class. Tsuna was probably already waiting in front of his class; the computer lab was quite far away from 1-D after all. Reborn had long gone to who knows where again. Much to his disbelief, Tsuna was waiting for him in the corridor on the way to his class, which was on the second level, and they were on the fifth level.<p>

"Hi Natsu! Shall we go now?" Tsuna greeted him cheerfully. Natsu opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Tsuna answered the unspoken question, "I was about to go to your class, but then I saw you running in my direction. I happened to be in my office when the bell rang."

Natsu blinked, "Oh…you did tell me that your office was on the fifth level."

Tsuna nodded, beaming a smile as he tugged on his twin's hand. "Yep! Let's go now! Namimori Supermarket is having a big sale in ten minutes!"

"Hah?"

* * *

><p><strong>Ten minutes later<strong>

Natsu had just had a novel experience with rabid fangirls. Even though he had his own share of admirers in the past, Tsuna's were a whole other level of rabid. He could see why his twin was in such a hurry to run away from school. His brother even had a squad of prefects in pompadours to keep his fangirls in line. Natsu shuddered at the memory of the hungry looks they had shot at his brother and him. His brother was definitely not someone who liked to be in the spotlight, but Tsuna handled all the attention professionally. He smiled at the girls and bid them goodbyes genially, not even flinching at the sight of the girls who drooled at the mere sight of him. Natsu thought he was about to go deaf with their kyaa-kyaaa.

Snapping back to attention, he saw they were standing in the dairy products section, one trolley each, of which one was empty, and the other had Reborn sitting in it. Natsu felt had a vein pop. "How the hell did you get here, Reborn?" Natsu yelled at Reborn, who was sitting on the trolley Tsuna was pushing.

"Natsu! Language!" Tsuna chided gently, "It's fine…" He smiled at his fuming twin, then turned to Reborn. "We are going to shop for one week's worth of supplies, so we need all the space we have in the trolley Reborn," he said as he once again lifted the chibi hitman up to his shoulder. "There, are you comfortable enough Reborn?"

Natsu couldn't understand why his brother was so nice to Reborn, but brushed it off, since his brother was always nice to everyone…with the exception of their father. Reborn, on the other hand, was confusing; Natsu wondered why the hitman acted all goody-goody around Tsuna. The hitman was undoubtedly fonder of Tsuna than him.

"That's a good choice of pasta Tsuna; that's the best brand imported from Italy," Reborn commented with a nod.

"It's a bit expensive compared to other brands, but worth it," Tsuna said in agreement as he put three packets of pasta into his trolley. "I need basil next…" Tsuna mumbled as he browsed through shelves of bottled dried herbs. He took out two bottles of basil, each from different brand. "Which one is better Natsu? Both are from Italy."

Natsu scowled, "How should I know? Seriously Tsuna… most boy our age even wouldn't know what basil is for." He knew because all of his father's subordinates were for some reason named after herbs. At first he thought it was their code-names, but it turned out they were their real names.

Tsuna smiled at him, "Well Natsu… I am sure you ate pasta in Italy, and I wondered what brand the cook used."

Before Natsu could open his mouth, Reborn cut him off, saying, "Take the one with dark green lid; it was harvested from Liguria…a very famous region for its basil."

"Is that so?" Tsuna eyed the bottle in wonder, "I will take this one then…" Natsu closed his mouth, mumbling under his breath. "Next…Vongola." Natsu and Reborn tensed at the same time, though the latter hid it much better. Tsuna smiled at Natsu, commenting chirpily, "That's Italian for clam right? I looked it up in dictionary!"

Natsu sighed in relief, "Looked it up in a dictionary?" he snorted, "I thought you were quite fluent in Italian? I saw it in your profile, the one that's posted on our school website."

Tsuna just laughed sheepishly, saying, "Our school's population is quite diverse, so learning a couple of languages is essential skills for me as the president."

According to his profile, Tsuna was also fluent in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Korean. "Considering how much you liked reading that philosophy mumbo jumbo, I wouldn't be surprised if you learned Greek or Latin next."

Tsuna laughed at that. "I am interested in Latin, but I want to brush up what I have in me…" He paused before saying absently to himself, "Ah…seafood section." He suddenly waved his hand to one of the staff, who was putting ice on rows of fish before calling out, "Yamada-san!"

The boy named Yamada-san turned around, beaming, and then ran in their direction. Natsu examined the older boy who seemed at least three years their senior; he had brown hair in a lighter shade than the twins, and fair a face with sophisticated features. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the apron he wore and the nametag; this Yamada looked like someone rich, and yet he was working in the supermarket?

Yamada bowed deeply, and Natsu was even more confused because the bow was deep, a sign that this older boy really respected his brother. "Hello Sawada-kaichou, what can I help you for today?" he asked eagerly.

"I need some fresh clam and squid," Tsuna said before bowed in return, looking as calm as ever even though someone had just paid deep respect to him.

The older boy patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry! I will choose the freshest one for you! And by the way, asparagus from Hokkaido just arrived this morning! Make sure you purchase some!"

Tsuna smiled at that, "Thank you very much! Asparagus from Yezo University, right?"

Yamada gave him a thumbs up confirming, "Yep! Theirs is the best!" Then, he rushed to the clams they had on the display and began to pick some out and put them in plastic bags.

* * *

><p>Natsuhiko eyed the mountain of grocery they had on their trolleys. Tsuna really wasn't kidding when he said they were shopping for a week's supply of food. Come to think of it again, his mother had apologized this morning because they only had toast with jam and tea for breakfast, something about she went overboard when cooking dinner a night before.<p>

"Why do we need so much?" he asked as he pushed the full trolley to the cashier; there were two people queuing in front of them.

Tsuna sighed, "Well…Kaa-san cooked so much food for your welcome dinner," he explained, "But your plane was delayed for five hours, and you arrived at home by 2 AM. I was actually at home waiting with Kaa-san for you." Natsuhiko flinched guiltily. "Rather than the food going to waste, I called my friends over to eat together." He smiled sheepishly, "You know Kaa-san's cooking is really good and in no time my friends ate everything. So our fridge is empty now…"

Natsuhiko laughed at that, "Can't blame them Tsuna; but then why did you sleep at your friend's home last night?"

Tsuna's lips curved up, "Well…student council business, quite urgent." Reborn, who had been quiet until now, eyed Tsuna carefully; something was fishy, but it seemed Tsuna was not worried. "Takeshi forgot to finish his homework, which was due today, so I had to help him!" Had it been someone else, they would have fallen to the ground because of shock, but Reborn merely had his left eyebrow twitch up a millimeter. "It would make a big fuss if one of the student council forgot to do his homework! Hahaha… Ryohei-senpai also forgot his, so we ended up helping them!" he explained with a sheepish smile.

Natsu blinked at that; the staff that was in charge of the cash register had started putting their purchases in plastic bags. "Uhm…I thought all the student council members were really smart?"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow, "Huh? About that…all of us specialize in a certain field, like physics, sports, music, and so on… " Then he titled his head to the side, "Takeshi, one of my friends who is the leader of the sports committee, is quite smart if he put his mind to studying… but most of the time, he likes baseball more than anything…"

"And that Ryohei-senpai? Sasagawa right?" Natsu recalled he was in charge of the combat sports/martial arts committee, and also the older brother of Sasagawa Kyouko, whom he had met this morning. He also found out that Sasagawa Kyouko and Miura Haru were part of the Event Management Committee. At first, Natsu wondered why an unusual committee like that existed, but soon understood when he saw the calendar of events on the website. This school loved festival as much as Vongola did their traditions.

"What's with sudden interest in my friends, Natsu?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"Just curious…" And with that, they dropped the topic, and Reborn sighed, wondering why his student could easily fall into such an easy trap. Now, Natsu was hesitant to ask more in fear that Tsuna would ask back.

After their groceries were put in plastic bags and Tsuna was about to carry them, Reborn stopped him. "Let Natsu bring everything by himself; it would be a good exercise," he said as he smiled sadistically at his student, who cowered at the sight of their groceries, which included two sacks of rice.

Tsuna blinked, "But there are so many, even if we carry half of it each… I know this supermarket's owner, so we can borrow the trolley and return it tomorrow on the way to school."

Reborn gave them no room to argue saying, "Natsu, it's a light exercise." The boy groaned about which part of this was light, but relented because it would hurt his pride to complain about a couple of grocery bags. Tsuna face-palmed mentally; Natsu was definitely easily manipulated by Reborn. Blurt out a challenge and he would comply in a heartbeat.

* * *

><p>Tsuna looked at his younger twin, who, despite of all his training in Italy, was panting and was on the verge of collapsing as he put down all of the plastic bags. Halfway home, Tsuna had taken one sack of rice and a couple of plastic bags, in spite of Reborn's protest. Tsuna convinced Reborn that he didn't mind helping, and if Natsu continued walking this slow, they would be late for dinner. Reborn relented because he hated late dinner, and in the end even brought one of the rice sack himself over his head. Unfortunately for Natsu, since his workload had become much lighter but nevertheless still heavy, Reborn ordered him to run ahead with the rest of the groceries or else he would face dire consequences.<p>

"You are very strong Reborn…" Tsuna commented as Reborn put down the rice sack in their kitchen.

Reborn smirked, noticing that Tsuna didn't have a tired look on his face even though the groceries he had carried were quite heavy. A boy his age who, according to his profile, spent most of his time with books should have been panting like Natsu, who lay sprawled on the couch in living room. He was about to return the compliment, but Natsu chose that moment to enter the kitchen. "That was light exercise?" he grumbled in annoyed tone. "Tsuna, I will help put these in the fridge," he said as he pointed to their groceries.

Tsuna nodded cheerfully, saying, "Ah, Natsu, make sure you take the eggs out of their packaging. I will put the packaging in the recycling bag, and someone will take it."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Hai…"

"Ah! That one is on the freezer Natsu… " Tsuna pointed out.

The taller twin rolled his eyes; his brother was always like this when it came to house chores. "By the way, where is Kaa-san? It's already 5:30PM; she should start cooking by now, since we usually have dinner at 6:30PM."

Tsuna laughed softly as he put the chopping board down on the kitchen counter saying, "Kaa-san should be in the spa on the next block; she always go there at least once a month…"

Natsu gaped at that, "And our dinner? Who will cook? You?"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at him, "Who else? It's my turn to cook dinner tonight, anyway!"

"You can…" Natsu trailed off, then shook his head, saying, "Come to think of it, you always helped Kaa-san in the kitchen since I could remember."

"Yep…by the way, don't put the clams in the fridge; they're for dinner," Tsuna said as he chopped the asparagus expertly, and then moved on to chop cabbage.

"Can I help you Tsuna?" Natsu asked curiously, "Since you and Kaa-san take turns cooking, does that mean…"

Tsuna blanched at that, "No Natsu…please, you and a stove are a recipe for disaster!" Natsu blushed a deep red; it seemed his older twin had not forgotten the three times he had almost burned their house when they were younger. Once, when he accidentally set their lawn on fire with his flames; then were the two incidents of him being a curious boy and trying to cook without supervision when Tsuna and their mother were out shopping.

"Ahahaha…"

Tsuna smiled apologetically at Natsu, "Seriously…after so many fire related accidents you would think that someone would never go anywhere near a stove," Tsuna said jokingly, then he laughed out loud. "People would think you were a pyromaniac, hahaha."

Natsu had never thought that his brother would ever be someone who was not good for his heart; his brother would never know how precise his last statement was in regards to Natsu. Though, all mafia who could use flames in general could be considered pyromaniacs in a way.

* * *

><p>Right on schedule, Tsuna finished his delayed welcome dinner, and Natsu had to compliment Tsuna at the various Japanese and Italian dishes he'd prepared. Their mother had returned, looking more fresh than usual as she sat down on the dining chair. "I am the luckiest mother on earth!" she exclaimed proudly at the sight of the delicious meals Tsuna cooked.<p>

Natsu felt slight pang of jealousy, but brushed it off as leftover of his childishness, saying, "It looks really good."

"Thank you…" Tsuna accepted the compliment modestly as he put a plate of pasta in front of Reborn. "At first I was thinking of cooking a proper Italian course, but thought maybe you missed Japanese food too, so I cooked both."

Natsu blinked, "What do you mean by a proper Italian course?"

Reborn sighed, "He meant a complete course from Appetizer to Dolce…" A pause, "That's a bit too much even for a welcome party, Tsuna…"

Tsuna just smiled at that, "Is that so? Let's eat then… "

All of them took a first bite after chorusing "Itadakimasu", and Reborn and Natsu were very impressed. "Wow! This is really good!" Maybe even better than the chef's cooking he had in the Vongola mansion.

Reborn gave a curt nod of agreement, saying "Hm… not bad." Which meant really good; Reborn rarely gave compliments.

* * *

><p><strong>30 minutes later<strong>

Reborn was watching Tsuna wipe the dining table clean when his cell phone rang, and curious look made its way onto Reborn's face when he didn't recognized the phone to be sold anywhere in Japan. Tsunayoshi's phone at first glance looked like an iPhone but there were distinctive features, such as the orange orb which had replaced the home button; there was also a golden line on the side.

"Moshi moshi? Ah…Nokoru-kun?" Tsuna had a soft smile on his face as he pulled out the dining chair, then sat across Reborn. Nana and Natsu were in the living room, watching TV. Tsuna raised an eyebrow, then frowned as Reborn heard the muffled voice of another speaker ranting on. "I see…then do your best Nokoru-kun," Tsuna chuckled softly, "You have my support Nokoru-kun, just do what you want…"

A pause.

"Clue?" Tsuna snorted, "Why…hm…maybe for a start, try to look at it from a different point of view." Tsuna laughed again, this Nokoru was probably telling him something funny, "Front view, axonometric view and maybe…bird's eye view?" Tsuna listed on cheerfully. "Not so helpful, huh?"

Tsuna's eyes softened, "Well then, ja ne…"

"Nokoru?" Reborn asked curiously, "As in Imonoyama Nokoru, the young prodigy NASA has been after since he was eight?" One of the students Reborn had marked as an influential figure who, if possible, Natsu should form an alliance with.

Tsuna nodded, noting that Reborn had done very thorough research on Imonoyama. Hopefully not deeper than what Tsuna expected, though. "Yes… apparently the headmaster deemed that he should have fun after he did a bit of detective work." Reborn raised an eyebrow; Tsuna was scrolling down his contact list. Finding what he was looking for, he contacted one of them. "Excuse me for a moment, Reborn." The hitman snorted; the boy was very polite. "Moshi-moshi…this is Sawada Tsunayoshi, kaichou of Namimori Gakuen. May I speak with headmaster?" A pause; he was waiting for the receptionist to connect the line to the headmaster. "Moshi-moshi…headmaster." Another pause, "Yes, I heard about it headmaster." Tsuna shook his head, "In my opinion…you should just let him be. Suoh-kun will keep him in line anyway…" Tsuna groaned, "With all due respect, that's too important to be used for a treasure hunt headmaster."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that, especially how the calm and reserved boy seemed irritated as the sound of lady-like laugh came from the phone. "Yes, as you wish headmaster..." Tsuna said respectfully, "I will see you at the next annual meeting."

The hitman watched the boy mumble something to his phone with thinly veiled irritation as he ended the line, uncharacteristically boyish of the mature teenager Reborn had come to know. But soon, Tsuna's eyes turned to his direction, once again smiling kindly as he asked if Reborn would like to join his mother and Natsu in the living room to watch TV. Reborn was a very observant person; he had to be as a hitman. Sawada Tsunayoshi was an enigma; one he intended to unveil at all costs. However, it irritated him to no end that this boy was leading him on a merry chase, leaking clues here and there which, if anything, led him even more astray, not knowing where to look, like a compass in a desert of magnetic sand.

Tsuna chuckled mentally as Reborn left the kitchen, probably going to the living room to beat the crap out of his younger twin for not doing his homework before watching TV. Reborn was always hard to read, most of the time bordering on impossible. At this moment, however, Tsuna had a clue as to what to expect from Reborn while he was an unknown to Reborn. The hitman was definitely irritated at the turn of events, that he was unable to solve this new puzzle named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The sky, however, had no intention of letting himself be found out; hiding his secrets among many other secrets had served his purpose pretty well so far. You could see the sky with you eyes and feel it close, but you would never able to touch it with your hands.

* * *

><p>The next morning was not particularly eventful, save Reborn eating Natsu's share of grilled fish and Tsuna coming to his rescue by cooking one more for him. Reborn chided Tsuna on spoiling his brother, saying that Natsu had to learn how to survive. Tsuna just laughed it off as he set down a hot, steaming fish for his younger twin and a cup of coffee for Reborn. The rest of his lecture was forgotten as he took a sip of the espresso Tsuna brew for him.<p>

It was heavenly…

The moment Reborn was back to reality and finished with his coffee, Natsu finished wolfing down his breakfast. Reborn scoffed as Tsuna poured a second helping of coffee for him. "You would be a very good barista, Tsuna…" he complimented the brunette with a smirk, "Who taught you?" Definitely not Nana, since a drunk Iemitsu had once mentioned his wife was so adorable when she found out coffee was the only thing she couldn't make fantastically; she kept making it too bitter or sweet.

Tsuna was contemplating what to say, and decided to tell a half-truth. "I love coffee; it helps me stay awake at night when doing paperwork. Instant coffee tasted bland to me, so I learned to make it myself." He smiled, "A barista was kind enough to teach me." Actually, it was his alternate self. Being the considerate boss he was, the Vongola Decimo had learned to make coffee for himself since he didn't like waking up their cook at ungodly hours of the night just for a cup of coffee, and also because Reborn hated instant coffee and claimed it was not befitting of a Vongola boss to drink instant coffee.

* * *

><p>The trip to school was also uneventful, and Natsu was confused on why Tsuna didn't question Reborn's presence in school. But then again, maybe it ran in the family, since his mother bought the excuse that Reborn was sent by Iemitsu and his boss to tutor Natsu to be the next generation's leader. Tsuna even said he would leave his otouto in Reborn's capable hands, much to Natsu's irritation because his brother had no idea about those capable hands of Reborn's.<p>

At the gate, Tsuna was greeted by two tall male students. Natsu noted that the slightly shorter one was an inch taller than he was. The first one had short, spiky black hair and warm brown eyes, smiling goofily at them. The second one was a silver haired boy, with sea green eyes which were covered by glasses. Both were wearing the modified uniforms that marked them as members of the student council.

"Ohayo, Tsuna!" the dark haired boy greeted, casually throwing an arm around Tsuna's shoulders.

The silver haired one looked irritated, but soon whatever irritated him was forgotten as he bowed deeply to Tsuna, who was smiling at him. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Kaichou!"

"Ohayo, you two…" Tsuna greeted back. "Hayato, Takeshi…"

"Preparations for this morning are complete; one squad of DC is already on patrol," reported the silver-haired one with a professional tone.

Tsuna let out a sigh of relief, and Natsu could easily guess that it must be his rabid fangirls again. "Oh…by the way, Natsu, let me introduce you to my friends." Natsu blinked, and Reborn's eyes lightened up as he looked at the two. "This is Gokudera Hayato, our vice president." The hitman smirked; smoking bomb Hayato, the heir of a prominent famiglia before he ran away from home, briefly apprenticed under Trident Shamal, who later entrusted the boy to Professor Innocenti, the famed charismatic weapon maker. The boy was also the grandson of Coyote Nougat, and half-brother of Poison Scorpion Bianchi. He was said to be missing along with his guardian around two years ago, but it seemed that Innocenti had moved to Japan to avoid danger and continued his research on weapons. Gokudera Hayato was now one of two vice-presidents of Namimori Gakuen, a genius in physics and mathematics. He was also an honorary member of the Music and Archery clubs.

Tsuna patted Yamamoto's shoulder lightly, "And this is our baseball star, who was responsible for your self-study class yesterday," Tsuna said jokingly, and Takeshi grinned sheepishly. "He is also the leader of the sports committee; if you want to join a sports club, Takeshi will assist you." No mafia relation that was known, a prodigy in baseball, an honorary member of the kendo club. His father was a sushi chef and one of Shigure Souen Ryuu's heirs, the famed style of Asari Ugetsu. Possible blood relation with first generation rain guardian?

"Sawada Natsuhiko, Tsuna's younger brother… nice to meet you." Natsu was surprised when he shook their hands. Both of them had rough hands, strong and firm grips. It felt like his father's, Nonno's, the ninth guardians' hands…the hands of someone that powerful. He looked at Reborn, who was sizing them up and he knew; that glint meant Reborn wanted them.

If only Reborn was not so caught up in watching Natsu's interaction with Hayato and Takeshi, he could see for one brief moment that Tsuna narrowed his eyes, which had become much lighter shades of gold, at them.

* * *

><p>At break period, Natsu once again found himself wandering around the corridor, with no clue how to get back to his class. He was really irritated; this school had very high expectations for theirs student, and Natsu was struggling to keep up. Spanner was nowhere to be seen again, and then he found out that Spanner was only a temporary member of class 2D, since he had just transferred from the UK last month and it had been deemed necessary for him to adapt in the regular class before he entered the special class Z. Reborn claimed he didn't know anything about Spanner, and Natsu forgot to ask Tsuna.<p>

He was snapped out of his reverie when he heard a beautiful song echo through the corridor. Trusting his intuition, Natsu walked to the source of the song. For some reason, this corridor was very empty and really quiet save the song. Natsu predictably found the song coming from a music room; the number three music room to be exact. Without thinking twice, he opened the door and found a grand piano in the centre of a massive room that was mostly empty save a few chairs, a couch, and a whiteboard.

Natsu didn't expect to find Gokudera Hayato playing the grand piano, and it seemed the silver haired boy didn't notice his presence, and if he did, he didn't show it. Natsu watched Hayato's long and nimble fingers dancing over the keys of the piano; he was not fond of classic music, but he knew Gokudera's playing was a high level skill. The song ended with a ting on the C key, and Natsu was snapped back to reality when Gokudera addressed him.

"Are you lost, Sawada-san?" It was weird that he addressed his close friend's brother with his surname, but since they were just introduced, it was not a surprise.

Natsu smiled sheepishly, saying, "Yeah, by the way is that…um…Mozart?"

Hayato raised an eyebrow, "You don't know much about classic music, do you?"

Natsu blushed a deep red at his guess, and out of nowhere, a voice come from below.

"That is _David Gaines' symphony no 1." _The brunette jumped in fright when he saw Reborn dressed as a conductor, a white afro wig and a conductor stick in hand. "A very beautiful song played very skillfully, Gokudera Hayato..."

The bomber smiled at that, "Thank you very much, it's an honor to receive such a compliment from you, Reborn-san."

Reborn waved his stick with a flourish saying, "What I want to talk to you about is not about your talent in music…an admirable talent I admit." Reborn smirked and Gokudera had a feeling of foreboding in his stomach. "I have a proposition for you…Gokudera Hayato."

'_Shit!'_ cursed the bomber mentally**.**

* * *

><p><strong>And so at last third chapter finish, Gokudera unexpectedly have two chapter for him to reunite with Tsuna XP<strong>

**Hopefully I am not _that_ bad to the point no one can understand what I write ;_; **

**Anyway I am sure plenty of people will ask why Tsuna tread to dangerous territory with mentioning Vongola and Pyromaniac stuff... well, because he can XD no, I am serious... Tsuna in this story have spend good two years plotting how to appear clueless about mafia and he want to fool Reborn of all people. With giving them dangerous allusion to mafia once in a while it would throw Natsu and Reborn off from how much Tsuna know. Tsuna also intend to leak something to Reborn in the future... ^^ but that's a secret, it's not about his parallel word memory anyhow... **

**In past, I did give Tsuna a level up in social standing... one that I hope realistic enough. Tsuna didn't manage it with his memory, he just have new determination to be better... you know what determination do to someone like Tsuna. It also helps Takeshi who was a popular baseball star is his friend now... and also Sasagawa siblings. Ryohei shown in manga as someone pretty popular, as he is suppose to be team leader in sport festival and Kyouko is a school idol. So you can say, at first Tsuna's promotion to popularity is not solely his effort... I know it's sad, but I think it's more plausible this way than he charmed the whole school with moe power -.-' **

**Next chapter: **

**Past: **

"HEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEE!"

"Lambo?" Tsuna and Takeshi yelled.

"Aunt Ottavia is going to kill meeeeeeeee!" The cow child yelled as running pass dumbfounded Tsuna and Takeshi.

The next thing Tsuna and co saw was a herd of bull heading to their direction, on their mind they screamed.

RUN!

**Future:**

"Show me your resolve... " Gokudera smirked as he lowered his bow, "Candidate of Vongola Decimo, Sawada Natsuhiko..."

Natsu smirked, "Fine! If I win... you will join my family and become my storm!"

"BAKA NATSU!" Reborn gritted his teeth, "He want you to show your resolve!" This was bad, he didn't expect this. In all out battle with Gokudera, Natsu might get killed! Thankfully smoking bomb Hayato didn't ask Natsu to beat him, but the brat was too dumb to understand anyway...

Natsu's left eye twitched, "What's the difference?"

Gokudera sighed wearily, "A lot Sawada... I want to see if I can accept that resolve of yours"

"Okay!"

The white haired storm smiled softly, what a naive boy. _Unfortunately for him..._ _I only have one sky. _


	4. 3rd Axis

**Credits to me beta EK12 and Namikaze Artemis for fixing this chapter  
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**We did our best to correct grammar, no complain please... unless you want to help us fixing it!  
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**1st July 2012 update**

* * *

><p><strong>With storm here comes the lightning! <strong>

**(Vongola X's world)**

Irie Shoichi, despite the fact he was and had been ordinary since the day he was born, probably was someone who had the most complicated life ever. His involvement with Byakuran when he was a megalomaniac was one thing, planning time-travel gambits was another. You would've thought he would've learnt something from it. Irie Shoichi was painfully aware that he was a trouble magnet but luckily he had not killed himself in the process. It was also one of the few things he could sympathize with Tsunayoshi-kun, who might be an even bigger trouble magnet than he was.

However, Shoichi knew Tsuna never looked for trouble, whereas he walked into it on purpose. It was one of the things he berated himself constantly for. So when Tsuna managed to get him to spill about Byakuran's routine of playing around with parallel worlds, he had tried to shrink under his boss' gaze. Byakuran, much to his guardian's protest, was strapped on a chair tied up like a mummy. Only his grinning face remained seen. Also, do note that the rope was soaked with Takeshi's rain flame so Byakuran was numb from his shoulders down.

Tsuna rubbed his temple, a habit he had adopted since he became the official boss of Vongola. "So, more or less, that's what these two have been doing for the past three months."

Gokudera followed his boss' example. "What were you thinking, Shoichi? Byakuran, I can understand, but you?"

Spanner rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it might have something to do with the photo album Byakuran borrowed from me…"

Shoichi turned to Spanner, his eyes blazing in fury. "_So,_ it was you!"

"By the way, Shoichi…" Spanner gave him a thumb up.

"That's one cool experiment." he complimented generously, looking gleeful and not bothered at all that he had given blackmail material to Byakuran.

"Whose fault do you think this is? And you shouldn't be complimenting me!" Shoichi snapped indignantly.

"Stop." All chatter stopped at once when Tsuna ordered them, "You should know as the boss of Vongola and one of the Trinisette holders, I am unable to turn a blind eye to this."

Yuni, who was sitting right beside Tsuna, nodded in agreement, "Byakuran-san… whatever the reason is… you didn't just abuse the Mare's power but the Vongola's too…"

"As a fellow sky guardian…" Tsuna drawled on, "I have to say, this is one grave offense and could upset the balance of the trinisette…" He shook his head forlornly, "You know even we would… or rather we would _especially_,"

Namely, him and Yuni.

"…be very upset at you?"

Byakuran pouted. "That's why it's my little secret with Sho-chan!"

"It's not little at all!" Shoichi yelled angrily at Byakuran. Then he turned to Tsuna, who sighed tiredly.

"Tsunayoshi-kun…" Shoichi wailed.

Yuni smiled at him, "We can't really blame you for this since… Irie-san, you weren't able to refuse your best friend's request, right?"

Shoichi's left eyebrow twitched, "Uh… he blackmailed me into this."

"Anyway…" Tsuna crossed his arms. "There's nothing we can do to stop the memories from our ring flowing to our alternate selves now, since Byakuran had established the connection permanently."

Byakuran smiled at that.

"It's not permanent, as it will only transport the memories I managed to get from Vongola rings. Once all the memories have flown down to them, the connection will be severed automatically and safely." he explained with a smile.

Tsuna eyed him threateningly. "And those memories you decided to give them… Which part of our lives is it from?"

Byakuran shrugged.

"Um… probably after the battle with future me? Maybe more than that? I'm not sure!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

The Vongola Decimo face-palmed, while the Sky Arcobaleno giggled cheerfully.

"Yuni… remind me why we forgave him again?"

"Because we can never be angry or hate anyone for long, Sawada-san." Yuni reminded him helpfully.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "I did say we can do nothing… and you said we can't blame Shoichi-kun for this…" Yuni nodded, "But still… this is my alternate self they are experimenting on. Shoichi-kun is my subordinate and Byakuran is…" Tsuna sighed, "…my fellow sky guardian…" He snorted.

"…which should say something…"

Shoichi felt a foreboding feeling and he was certain it would be a good time for his stomach to protest. Gokudera nodded in agreement, followed by the rest of guardians, with the exception of the mist guardian and the cloud guardian. Mukuro simply looked on amusedly, whereas Hibari looked disinterested.

Tsuna then made his decision, "I expect…" -Which was Tsuna's way of ordering someone when failure was not an option- "… that you both have to figure out a way to be responsible for this, Shoichi, Byakuran…"

They gulped when they saw those normally warm amber eyes turn freezing cold and narrow dangerously at them.

"YES!" Shoichi and Byakuran squeaked. What else could they do anyway?

* * *

><p><strong>"History repeats... first as tragedy, then as farce"<strong>

-Karl Marx

**Innocenti's Mansion **

It was a big European styled house, which had three stories. Tsuna suspected that there was an underground laboratory too. Considering that this man was a former Mafioso, his lab must be hidden somewhere. Tsuna and Takeshi currently had two priorities in their mind. First, to confront Hayato and convince him to be their friend. Second, to find out anything they could from Innocenti and also his research, although the latter was not really prioritized as long as they got the first one done. Tsuna was really frustrated Hayato kept stalking them, but had never dared to openly approach them. Tsuna was also scared about confronting Hayato directly in the fear the silver haired boy would run again. It was disappointing that Hayato was not at home because he went to restock. Even though Innocenti had said it was sweets, they knew he meant dynamites.

Tsuna then moved on to the next priority for the time being, even though he hated to do this. However, desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Um… Innocenti-san, are you a doctor?" Tsuna said, pretending to eye his coat curiously.

Innocenti snorted at that, "No way… I'm not good with blood." he grumbled, "I am a scientist Tsunayoshi-kun."

Tsuna and Takeshi smiled mentally.

BINGO!

Mafia doctors, like Shamal, mostly belonged to a famiglia and protected fiercely from generation to generation. Shamal was a rare case for mafia doctors. Since he was a freelancer and his skill was unmatched, no one dared to claim him. He was allied with Vongola, but never one particular Mafioso. Unlike doctors, most mafia scientists were freelancers unless they had pledged loyalty for generations to a famiglia like Giannini's family.

Some of them formed famiglia themselves like Estraneo, but this kind of famiglia would rarely survive for long because they were weak physically. Also, other famiglia would fight for their technology and knowledge. Bovino was a special case as most famiglia saw them as bunch of low level mafia at best. That was the very reason famiglia like Tomaso survived for so long without power to back it up. No famiglia bothered to notice them.

Innocenti was undoubtedly a freelancer, or he might be a scientist who just happened to have connections with the mafia. Either way he would be a good ally- not to mention Hayato was his charge.

"What are you researching, Innocenti-hakase?" Tsuna asked innocently.

Innocenti suddenly beamed with pride, so the boys just had to take a step back. "Would you like to see my lab?"

Tsuna blinked.

How could this go so smoothly? He even was letting them see his lab! Fear started to grip his heart. What if this was a trap? How could he be so trusting to a stranger like this?

Takeshi could feel Tsuna grow uncomfortable. He too felt restless at how open Innocenti was with them. However, they had gone too far and it was too late to go back.

Unexpectedly, Innocenti's lab was located in a separate building in the back of his mansion, and not the typical underground lab like Tsuna expected. The lab was spacious and full of charts and equipment like the typical laboratory. It had white walls, with black and white tiles creating a chessboard pattern, and rows of long tables. Tsuna's eyes widened when he saw prototypes of weapons on Innocenti's desk. It looked a little out of place on the lab that seemed dedicated for biotechnology research.

Innocenti smiled as he patted a rocket launcher that was displayed.

"This is a toy I used as a model! You see… my project is making toys that combine both animal and weapon!"

Tsuna and Takeshi eyed the rocket launcher; the metal glinted at them innocently. Who was he trying to fool? Even kids could tell it was not made of plastic.

"Oh…" Takeshi grinned. "Cool!"

The brunet mentally cheered for Takeshi; leave it to Takeshi to act oblivious! "Um, yes! That sounds like a very cool idea, Innocenti-hakase!"

"Oi… Innocenti, I have…"

At that moment the door opened, revealing a startled Hayato. No doubt the silver haired boy didn't expect to see Tsuna and Takeshi. Tsuna didn't move when Hayato slowly inched away from the door then immediately turned 180 degrees and sprinted, with a red face, across the lawn.

Innocenti rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Is that boy embarrassed to see you here?" he asked incredulously, "I didn't even know that brash boy was capable of being shy!"

Tsuna and Takeshi looked at each other, silently relieved that for the first time that they came face to face since that disastrous reunion in Takeshi's dojo, Hayato didn't hate them. But the revelation that Hayato was embarrassed to face them was unsettling, especially because it seemed that Hayato had been stalking them for days because he was too embarrassed to face them.

"Hmm… I think we should visit Hayato everyday! I'm sure he'll be less shy with us if we keep visiting!" Takeshi suggested cheerfully.

Tsuna found himself agreeing to keep visiting, but not for the reason that Takeshi had said. Takeshi seemed to be under the impression that Hayato was a shy kid, or some sort of timid animal from how he spoke. Tsuna had also come to the conclusion Hayato was not following them under a mission to reveal their true nature as aliens. It seemed as if he was mistaken. Hayato was just too embarrassed to approach them. Knowing how socially awkward the boy was, it was not a big surprise.

Soon, Tsuna found himself losing patience quickly. Even on the tenth day he visited Innocenti's manor, Hayato had kept on running away, while blushing furiously, at the mere sight of him. He had always thought he was a very patient person, especially considering the kind of life he had witnessed in that dream. It was a miracle he had not snapped whenever his father made a call, and that he could **still** politely refuse whenever his kind mother offered the phone to him instead of taking the phone and cursing in Italian (he learned a little to help his research) like he wanted.

So on the twelfth day of his visit to Innocenti's manor, he and Takeshi planned a strategy to corner Hayato. Innocenti was amused at the effort Tsuna and Takeshi put into drawing Hayato out of his shell, so the scientist had helpfully left the manor. He left Hayato to their care on that day. Hayato didn't see it coming when Tsuna and Takeshi caught him with their elaborate plan which involved UMA, fake ghost stories, and a primitive trap courtesy of Takeshi.

It was almost unbelievable that Takeshi's plan managed to land Hayato gagged and tied on a sofa. Tsuna looked at Hayato with pity then turned to the baseball player. "Um… Takeshi, is it necessary to tie him up like this?"

"Of course!" His tone sounded like he was stating the truest fact of the year. "We don't want him running away again right? I'm pretty sure he won't go anywhere while tied up."

Tsuna could now confidently say that Yamamoto Takeshi was in fact a very dangerous person when he chose to be serious and shed his carefree demeanor. Then again, Takeshi tried to approach Hayato with bravado for the past few days, even more than Tsuna had, so it was no wonder he was pissed at Hayato.

"Okay…"

Then he turned to Hayato, carefully pulling down the cloth that covered Hayato's mouth. He was curious why Takeshi thought it was necessary to cover Hayato's mouth but knowing Takeshi he was a type who always go all the way when he decided to do something.

"Hayato-kun, can we talk now? To be honest this is getting old- playing chase just to talk with you." he pleaded in a desperate tone. Hayato's eyes widened and Tsuna could see guilt painted all over his face.

"I was angry…" Tsuna admitted. Tsuna was glad that Takeshi tied Hayato up because the silver haired boy would most likely have dug a hole before Tsuna could finish.

"..because you thought that I wanted you to become my underling. But then, I realized I should be more considerate… understanding…" he explained sadly. "I should have remembered that you were born in that world. I am so sorry Hayato…"

"Tsuna…" Takeshi thought Tsuna would have scolded Hayato for accusing him instead of apologizing.

"I don't really know much about the mafia world and its loyalty, vow of silence or any sense of chivalry…" A pause before he corrected himself. "I thought I did… but for you, who was born and currently lives in it, I am someone who knows nothing."

Hayato shook his head frantically, "That's…"

"I won't demand that you to accept me just because of the dreams of that parallel world…" Tsuna said with a smile.

"Also, the me in this world is not the Vongola Decimo… I am not even part of the mafia, and I will never be…" he stated firmly.

"That's why Hayato…" His eyes softened, "You can be anyone you want in regards to me."

Hayato was caught off guard.

"What do you mean?" he sputtered.

Tsuna smiled gently as he patted Hayato's shoulder. The taller boy stiffened, he never felt so at ease in spite of his tied up state. It was as if that hand was taking away his burdens, fear, shame, and discomfort from his shoulder. "You can choose to be a complete stranger and forget everything you had seen in that dream. And we…" Tsuna trailed off, and pain stained his fair face as he hoarsely continued. "We'll stop visiting you."

There was a pause and before he could think his mouth opened. "NO! Don't leave me alone! I don't want to be a stranger to you!"

The only man he found to accept him in spite of his status, the single ray of hope he had sought since he found out about his mother's death and his father's betrayal. "I… I…" Hayato stuttered, his eyes frantically spinning in desperation and he stopped thinking on what to say as his mouth sputtered. "I want to be your right hand man! Your comrade! Your friend! Your family!"

Tsuna blinked at the sight of Hayato who cried hoarsely, and Takeshi was equally shocked. Tsuna tried to suppress the happiness that had started to bubble up in him, because he wanted to make himself clear that there are no regrets if Hayato was to follow him. And, that Gokudera did it out of free will and not because of a mere dream.

"I… am not Vongola Decimo, not a boss candidate…" He informed him again, "I am just Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"_And_ the only one that I will follow to the end of the world and for the rest of my life!" Hayato stated firmly as he wriggled his way out of the rope, "The one I want to follow is _you_ and not the Vongola Decimo."

Takeshi helped Gokudera to untie the ropes. Tsuna was still stunned at the revelation. "You should know… Tsuna in this world is not the same Tsuna in that dream." Takeshi stated sternly. He said this in Tsuna's place because he was sure Tsuna would do the same. Reminding their comrades, in spite of everything Tsuna of this world was still someone different and would never be the one they saw in that dream. "In spite of that, will you follow him like I did, Hayato?"

Hayato scoffed as he threw the rope away, "I noticed! So what if this Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't save me from my own dynamites, throwing himself in danger for my sake?" He snorted at Takeshi, "I would be a very sorry individual for being loyal solely because I owe him my life..." He looked down as if ashamed. "After that day I started to realize how pathetic I am…"

Tsuna frowned at that, "You're not."

Hayato shook his head, "I was sprouting nonsense due to my insecurity… and I behaved like a scaredy-cat during the last few days." He murmured sadly, "I am an idiot but I will be a bigger idiot now if I keep on running away from someone who didn't give up on me…"

"Hayato?"

"You even admit that you will if I want it… you gave me a choice." He hugged his knee as if trying to shrink into himself, "I ran away from home after I found out about my origins and yet… until now my father didn't lift a finger to find me or explain himself." He said hoarsely, "Shamal dropped me to Innocenti's care at the first opportunity he got and never asked for my opinion. He just decided it himself… and Innocenti isn't even trying. He cares just because he owes Shamal, and because I am his responsibility."

Tsuna patted his head and Hayato couldn't help but sniff. He must be sounding very lame for whining about his life. "For a start… you can give them a chance, Hayato."

He blinked at that, his eyes wide in wonderment. "Eh?"

"I don't think everyone will do what we did…" Tsuna laughed sheepishly, "Not everyone will tie you up and force you to sit down and listen… If you want them to know your feelings, you should sit down long enough for them to ask, and for you to know their feelings as well." His eyes softened. "Sometimes… Sometimes, you have to be the one who reach out first, Hayato."

He would be ashamed if someone else told him that, or refused to listen because his foolish pride. But Tsuna said it so sincerely…

"… Yes…" Hayato sniffed. "I'll do that… but I'm not sure I won't mess up."

He grumbled out the last part, "That Innocenti…"

Tsuna smiled at that, "We'll right behind you…"

Hayato blushed a deep red, "T-Thanks… um…"

He lunged at the grinning loon like an angry feline, "You baseball idiot! How dare you tied me up!"

Takeshi, being Takeshi, laughed as he and Gokudera engaged in a one-sided brawl. "Ha ha ha!"

Tsuna could only face-palmed as they both rolling on the ground, Takeshi looked more cheerful than ever and Gokudera in spite of looking like someone murdered his cat, was definitely okay and no longer burdened by his past. It was five minutes later when Takeshi managed to lock Gokudera in a bone-crushing hug that Tsuna joined and tackled both of them to the ground.

Both Takeshi and Hayato were pinned on the ground with Tsuna on top. All of them were laughing, recalling their hilarious reunion. When their laughter died down, Hayato was still clutching his stomach. Tsuna and Takeshi beamed at him.

"I'm Yamamoto Takeshi! I love baseball, milk, sushi and most of all, my friends and family!"

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. My hobby is reading, and my friends and family are the most precious thing for me." Tsuna said as he gave a confused Hayato a curt nod. "Nice to meet you."

Understanding dawned upon Hayato as he chuckled softly. "I'm Gokudera Hayato- and I love music, science, and researching about UMAs… but I love you guys the most!"

Then he looked at Takeshi warily, "I don't love_ you _that much… Or rather, I love you sometimes."

"How mean!" Takeshi whined.

Hayato ignored Takeshi, who was complaining that Gokudera was being a tsundere, and stared hopefully at Tsuna. "Um…" he muttered uncertainly while Tsuna raised an eyebrow at his hopeful look."Can I call you boss?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "No…"

"Tsunayoshi-sama?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes again. He should have known that Hayato wouldn't give up on addressing him in a respectful way. On the side, Takeshi snickered, no doubt finding the situation hilarious.

"Drop the –sama." Tsuna ordered.

"But!" Gokudera objected.

Great, now Hayato looked like a wounded kitten. "Other alternatives?" Tsuna asked.

"Heika?" That was worse. It seemed as though Hayato had a good understanding of Japanese in a way, but he definitely didn't want to be called 'Your Majesty'.

"Banchou?" Gokudera suggested.

...Tsuna was not a gang leader.

"Erm… just call me Tsuna." Hayato opened his mouth to protest, but Tsuna was faster. "People will talk if they hear you calling me that. It's like a secret mission, so don't let anyone know, not even Innocenti."

Hayato nodded enthusiastically, and Tsuna mentally added 'getting Hayato to call him with his given name willingly' on his 'things to do soon' list.

Innocenti, in Tsuna's opinion, was eccentric by normal standards, but pretty decent by mafia standards- especially if you compared him with the likes of Shamal or Verde. His obsession with beauty and art was one thing they needed to get used to. Hayato was close to killing his guardian if he didn't shut up about how the nutrition of their meals was good for skin or whatever crap Hayato didn't want or need to know.

How easily the professor became good friends with his mother was a bit alarming, though not in _that_ way. Nana was a very loyal wife to Iemitsu and Innocenti was a gentleman. He was not sure what to think about the fact that Innocenti and his mother were friends because of their interest in _skincare_ and _cooking_. Not to mention that Hayato carelessly implied from time to time he was questioning Innocenti's sexuality.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, at first, was reluctant to know Hayato's guardian in spite of the growing friendship (on Takeshi's part, as it was one sided rivalry to Hayato) between his son and Innocenti's ward. Tsuna suspected that Takeshi's father knew who Innocenti was, but soon the man warmed up and became Innocenti's first drinking buddy in Japan. Not to mention, both were very good cooks.

Tsuna and Takeshi themselves were quite fond of Innocenti and thought of him as some sort of eccentric uncle. Their visits to his mansion became more frequent, especially as the mansion's library was a little too tempting for Tsuna to leave unattended. Nana sometimes chided Tsuna for being too greedy when it came to books- especially since his room was already filled with piles of books. Soon, Nana suspected, his eldest would start making furniture from books just to get more space for his collection. Much to Tsuna's chagrin, he had considered that idea.

Life in Tsuna's opinion was relatively peaceful, Hibari's frequent staring and Ryohei's club invitations aside. Hibari was starting to freak him out, understandably. Ryohei, thankfully, was still as oblivious as ever. Hopefully he could settle an understanding with Hibari before Ryohei, because Tsuna could totally see a disaster on the horizon if _it_ happened. Ryohei would try to bond with his rival (he had already tried, actually) just because Hibari was strong. Tsuna had seen the bad beating Hibari gave Ryohei whenever the boxer tried to be Hibari's friend. Between that and his relentless club invitations, Tsuna wasn't sure if Ryohei could survive if he was more hyped up with this than to befriend Hibari.

And so, Tsuna wisely chose to leave his sun and cloud alone for now. He could wait for the problem to blow up in his face later. He would like to enjoy this peace for a while, thank you very much, for as long as he could. But deep down, he knew that one way or another, his life was going to be more hectic.

Innocenti had one day suddenly announced his little sister from Italia was on the way to Japan for a short visit. Or rather, he hoped that it would be short. He also mentioned his sister was not really right in the head and also had a bunch of dangerous toys. He sharply warned them to not touch the toys no matter how tempting it was. Tsuna and his friends were sometimes alarmed at how careless Innocenti was with mafia matters around them; kids or not, Innocenti let his guard down a bit too much. Hayato, at last, lost his patience and Tsuna relented to leak some info. Half-truths and half lies were very effective, but not something he would do unless forced. It reminded him a bit too much of his father.

The professor was not too shocked to find Tsuna was from Vongola line and the son of CEDEF leader. He said that he had suspected Tsuna was somewhat connected to the mafia. He had been purposely trying to get the kids to admit it. Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi were somewhat sheepish that they had underestimated Innocenti.

"Very well, so how did you find out about your heritage, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Innocenti asked with crossed arms. "And please, don't lie to me- I suspect Hayato is involved. I am his guardian and he is my responsibility… I have every right to know."

Tsuna winced at that.

"What's Hayato hiding?" Innocenti demanded. "Why did he have to plot a small, believable lie in his room with you two last week?"

The kids stared at the older male in shock and bewilderment.

"Yes, I was eavesdropping on you." He rolled his eyes as Hayato glared daggers at him. "I only heard a little. Don't worry, I only heard '_It has to be believable.' _and '_Does this scenario make sense?' _This mansion's walls are pretty thick after all. I'm paying for the contractor for that."

Tsuna, Takeshi and Hayato grew quiet before looking at each other.

"Well…" Tsuna trailed off.

"I'm waiting, boys." he tapped his fingers on the armrest of the sofa he was lounging on."We have the whole day, so take your time."

"After all…" Here, he smirked. "Today is Saturday."

Saturday was their sleepover day, which meant no escape from Innocenti- after all, the mansion was his.

Tsuna contemplated Innocenti's words for a moment before looking up. His golden eyes locked onto Innocenti's blue ones. The professor gulped, but his lips remained curved up in a smirk even as a bead of sweat rolled down to his sharp chin. He always felt that Tsuna was no ordinary boy. Just with his gaze, Tsuna could pin people down and make them feel as if they were being judged- and that they could do nothing but wait for the verdict. Then again, this boy was the descendant of Vongola Primo; the man called 'the great sky'…

Finally, the brunet sighed and nodded towards his friends. "Well… it all started from a dream…"

Innocenti's reaction to their lengthy explanation about parallel worlds, dreams, and the Vongola was interesting. He managed to keep himself awake through it and didn't even blink when Tsuna finished.

"I believe you," he said, after three minutes of silence on his part. "And I have to thank you for trusting me with this knowledge, so I can take a part as a responsible adult."

Tsuna nodded slowly. It was a good thing that they told him, since they needed someone to help them. Not to mention that Innocenti was undoubtedly a reliable man.

"What do you mean?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask.

The effeminate man sighed as he ran his nimble fingers through colorful locks, "I may be a scientist, but I am also a competent doctor and psychologist." He looked at the three scared young boys- no doubt they heard the last title he held. "I am sure you guys are sane and I believe you. No insane people can think up that kind of explanation." he assured them with a smile, "It's just… you're ten years old with the memories of a teenager, a teenager in the mafia. A teenager that may have been through life and death situations!" he exclaimed, "You guys need to have your mental health checked. I have to make sure that when the dreams end, you guys come out as sane individuals."

"Er…" Tsuna trailed off. He wasn't sure what to say about his doubted mental health, but it made sense. "Thank you?"

* * *

><p>Tsuna was not sure about the test, but Innocenti gave him a set of questionares he forgot how many page then asked a couple of questions. He was fine according to Innocenti aside from his psychology was matured faster than normal. The same was said to his friends, which didn't say much, considering the mafia's nonexistent sanity requirement. Nevertheless, Innocenti was smart enough to agree to keep their memories secret from their parents. He even agreed to support them.<p>

Tsuna learned a lot about the mafia from Hayato and Innocenti. He never felt hatred, but delving deeper into the knowledge of mafia made him feel something akin to hatred- but it mostly made him feel disgust. Innocenti also claimed that there was nothing a traitor of Omerta like him would regret if he left the mafia. Those who left willingly always had no regrets. They would never betray the Cosa Nostra, although it was that society that had betrayed them to the dark future that lied ahead. They may be hunted to death, but at least they lived for themselves for that short moment- and not for a famiglia.

Innocenti said that not all people involved in mafia were evil; in fact some famiglia, in spite of being a famiglia, were more of a family rather than a mafia famiglia. The Vongola's First Generation's inner circle was one such example, although as a whole Vongola used to be a vigilante group. Tsuna could just nod in agreement. A small part of him still resented his ancestor for opening the door to the underground society for their family.

* * *

><p>Days passed, and at last the day came when Innocenti's sister was supposed to arrive. They planned nothing big. Innocenti simply planned a nice dinner with the kids to welcome his sister. Strangely, Innocenti also built a barn in their lawn. None of the boys were curious enough to ask why he built a barn, especially considering Innocenti's somewhat… questionable experiment methods. Tsuna and co weren't interested to know what he wanted to do with the future occupants of said barn. Innocenti said it was for his sister's use, but Innocenti never said he wouldn't be involved in it. Interestingly, their sleepover day, which coincided with his sister's arrival, was normal enough for the first hour or so. They were in the newly built barn when Innocenti brought his sister in for an introduction. The boys were introduced to Innocenti's sister, who was surprisingly a tomboyish woman with jet black short hair cut sloppily. The only similarity she had with her brother was her blue eyes and thick eyelashes. She was dressed in a red sleeveless shirt and knee length jeans. She was pretty, but she wouldn't stand out in a crowd.<p>

"I'm Ottaviarina Sunny," she said with a grin.

Tsuna had to admit that was one odd name, but then again, 'Innocenti' was not that normal either.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Nice to meet you Miss Ottavia..."

"Rin, call me Rin-neechan." she grinned, "If you call me baa-san or anything like that, you'll be in for one painful experience."

Tsuna blinked at that, "Oh… um, Rin-neesan?"

"What a cute boy!" Rin glowed at the sight, "Call me Nee-chan, -san is too formal."

"YOU!" Hayato marked this as an imminent threat to Tsuna and whipped out some dynamite. However, Takeshi, who had made it a habit to bring his Shigure Kintoki around, cut off the fuses of Hayato's dynamite. Unsurprisingly, Takeshi became the next target of Hayato's irritation, and all hell broke loose.

"By the way… I brought our nephew along." Rin said to Innocenti. "He is one troublesome brat… I wonder where he is?"

Innocenti paled at that, "You let that brat loose without supervision?"

"He liked staying with them! Every chance I get to have my hands free of him is a blessing from Heaven!" Rin argued hotly. "Beside… what trouble could he get himself into with cows?"

"Cows?" Tsuna repeated in confusion. He even didn't bother to stop the cat and mouse game in the background between Hayato and Takeshi. They would stop when they were tired anyway. "That barn is for cows?"

The siblings nodded enthusiastically. Rin licked her lips, "Fresh milk everyday, not to mention all the homemade ice cream we can make!"

Innocenti nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention, milk baths!" he sighed dreamily at that, "They're good for your skin."

"Yeah!" Rin nodded in agreement.

Wow, no wonder they were siblings. Tsuna sweat-dropped. '_And what's with that, they sounds like Shizuka-chan from anime Natsu liked to watch when we were four.' _

"Ha ha ha… that's one interesting activity," Takeshi commented, panting lightly.

They were tired (already) so they had stopped their chase, Tsuna noted.

"I wouldn't call it that…" Tsuna murmured.

"It's gross," Hayato snapped. "Seriously! Just die!"

"And where is our nephew again?" Innocenti asked.

"With the cows."

"HEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEE!"

"Lambo?" Tsuna and Takeshi yelled. The boy was still dressed in a cow suit but he looked older than the five-year-old toddler they had seen in their dreams.

"AHO-USHI?" Gokudera blanched.

"Aunt Ottavia is going to kill meeeeeeeee!" The cow child yelled while running past a dumbfounded Tsuna, Hayato, and Takeshi.

The next thing Tsuna and co saw was a herd of cows heading towards them. In their minds, they mentally screamed in unison:

RUN!

The children ran as away from the herd of cows. The adults just side-stepped out of the way, and then looked at each other.

"It seems Lambo don't like cows anymore," Innocenti commented, "And why is he yelling that you're going to try to kill him?"

She pasted an innocent smile onto her face.

"My discipline method?" She tilted her head to the side in a cutesy manner.

"You mean… your method of traumatizing a seven year old brat for life?" Innocenti corrected.

* * *

><p><strong>FUTURE: The Pledge of the Storm<strong>

**"My honor is my loyalty."**

-Heinrich Himmler

"I see…" Hayato said with an impressive amount of composure- Reborn had to acknowledge that no normal Mafioso could be so calm in this situation. "That's a tempting offer." And definitely no normal Mafioso would talk about an offer to be Vongola's guardian as if he were talking about weather.

Reborn eyed Gokudera with cold eyes, while Natsu wondered if Gokudera would accept the offer.

"You should join me…" Natsu said with a grin, "Becoming one of Vongola's guardians is the greatest honor for a Mafioso."

Gokudera raised an eyebrow at him, "Is that so? I'm no longer in the mafia. I have been living as civilian for two years and frankly, I'm very comfortable with my current life."

Natsu snorted, "I lived as civilian for ten years and I lived as a Mafioso for only three years. That part can change Gokudera Hayato… _I _canchange that." he stated the last part confidently.

"I'm not so sure about that." Hayato gave a deadpan reply. There was no sarcasm or anything in his voice. It was just a straightforward retort.

Natsu gritted his teeth. How dare this man underestimate him? "Vongola is the strongest famiglia. If Reborn considered you worthy to be one of my future guardians, you should be honored!"

Natsu expected some sort of retort, or even a sneer, judging from how light Gokudera's reaction was in regards to the generous offer. However, the vice president only sighed. "I am honored that Reborn-san thinks that I am worthy… However, I wonder if _you're _worthy to be Vongola Decimo."

He narrowed his eyes at Natsu. The brunet gritted his teeth, but then his scowl was replaced by a smirk, "Absolutely." he said confidently.

"…"

Reborn sighed at those words. Only at times like this, he could be a little proud of Natsu. Hopefully, Natsu had it in him to back up that statement, or die trying.

Gokudera smirked at that. "You're confident; I'll give you that… Very well. I will give you an answer tomorrow."

Natsu growled, "Why you…" He took a deep breath, calming himself. "Fine! I'll be waiting tomorrow..."

The vice president nodded, then went to the couch. Its backside was facing them. He then shouted: "Takeshi! Wake up!"

Reborn narrowed his eyes. Natsu jumped in shock when he saw the tall figure of Yamamoto Takeshi rise from the couch, yawning with tears in his eyes.

"… Ohayo Hayato!" he greeted the silver haired boy cheerfully, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Hayato sighed, "Class will start soon. Let's go."

Takeshi blinked, then he hopped off of the backrest. "Okay!"

Gokudera turned to Natsu. "If you have your student card with you, outside, beside the door, there is a small screen above the scanner. Tap your card and press the map button." he explained in a heartbeat, "Later then…"

Reborn and Natsu watched their retreating backs. Gokudera just gave them a curt nod while Takeshi waved cheerily at them, "See you around, Tsuna's little bro!"

"Since when was that Yamamoto here?" Natsu demanded, turning towards Reborn.

Reborn scowled, "Since the very beginning, idiot student."

Yamamoto yawned, "That went well…"

"You think?" Gokudera snorted, "That boy is going to be trouble. What an embarrassment…"

"Compared to Tsuna?" Now it was Yamamoto's turn to snort, "Come on Hayato, if we compare Natsu to Tsuna, it would be biased… Anyways, let's tell Tsuna about this."

Hayato rolled his eyes, "Knowing Kaichou, he probably expected this to happen…"

"Because we're so awesome!" Yamamoto said, laughing cheerfully.

"You have no shame…" Hayato commented without any malice. There was even a slight curve to his lips. "Anyway… I'll make sure this won't happen to any of us in the future. This is nothing but an unnecessary hurdle in our plan…"

The last part was hissed grimly.

Takeshi frowned, "Hayato… Tsuna won't be happy if we do something to his brother..."

"You're underestimating our leader," Hayato chided Takeshi. "He's kind and righteous, but never unnecessarily lenient." He sighed wearily.

"But most of all… he is a resolute person."

Takeshi stared at Hayato, who returned his stare with intensity- it was as if he were daring the baseball player to deny his statement.

"Ha ha ha, you're right!" Takeshi laughed.

Hayato grunted, "Che, idiot…"

**-=Email=-**

_Sorry bro, but my club president needs me so I have to excuse myself from last period DX So, don't worry if I suddenly keep missing from class from now on okay? He he!_

**_~Mitsu_**

_P.S. You should join a club soon, it's mandatory! _

**-=Email End=-**

Natsu stared at the e-mail Mitsuru sent him around one hour ago, before moving up to the one he received recently. It was from Tsuna.

**-=Email=-**

_I have some paperwork I need to hand in by today, please go home without me. I will be home in a few hours._

**_Tsunayoshi_**

**-=Email End=-**

Natsu raised an eyebrow at Tsuna's email.

"What's with this business-like e-mail?"

It was a clear contrast with Mitsuru's, which was littered with emoticons and colorful text.

"Takeshi and Hayato are on the way to their club already… Kaichou." A toneless voice echoed through the room. Hibari Kyouya raised an eyebrow as he watched Tsuna grasp a glass of water on his desk. The water bubbled and evaporated, before the glass melted and evaporated into the air.

Tsuna stared at the melted glass in his hand that slowly evaporated because of the intense heat of his sky flame. "Ah… what a mess."

Kyouya narrowed his eyes, then smirked. "Hm. You are such a possessive sky, Sawada Tsunayoshi…"

"And you guys love me for it." he retorted with an angelic smile. "Right, Kyouya?"

The prefect narrowed his eyes. "Don't push your luck."

"…Well?" Kyouya said after a moment.

Tsuna sighed at the one syllable question. How typical of Hibari Kyouya. Then again, he could understand it, and efficiency was the one thing Kyouya valued highly.

"Kyouya…" Tsuna narrowed his eyes, "I suspected that this might happen. And so, it'll be fine." Giving Kyouya a smile, Tsuna attempted to assure him.

"How confident…" he drawled sarcastically.

"It's not confidence…" Tsuna retorted with a frown.

The prefect raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh… what is it then?"

He smiled softly.

"It's just a fact. I won't fail when it's my friends who are at stake. I _can't _fail…" he stated with determined eyes that made even Hibari take a step back, intimidated by his aura.

Hibari snorted, "I guess that's why they follow you…" he whispered hoarsely. In his case though… he would never follow Tsunayoshi but… he would always be far enough to be independent but within the arm reach of Sawada Tsunayoshi. After all, clouds always drift away without bound, but forever dwell within the limitless sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada's Residence <strong>

Natsu, to be honest, loved school. Not for its boring lessons which drilled holes in his brain, heaven forbid! He loved it for the classes where he could pretend to pay attention, the lunches in the cafeteria (the menu was superb) and most of all, for the fact that Reborn was not always within a three feet radius with his gun ready in hand.

"Done!" Natsu said as he threw his arms up in a tired manner, "I fixed the answers for number three and five!" He had been redoing his homework five times because Reborn, that perfectionist bastard, wouldn't accept homework that was 60% correct. No! It _had _to be 100% correct.

Reborn had his eyes glued to Natsu's homework. After a few seconds, a smirk formed onto his lips. "Now you get it… as expected, you only need proper motivation."

"Since when is a gun proper motivation?" Natsu retorted with a huff.

Reborn smirked, "You still have much to learn. Now, onto the next lesson…"

"Don't ignore my witty retort!" Natsu shouted angrily.

"Why I would bother?" Reborn said sarcastically, "We have much more important things to address." He wiped his already clean gun until squeaking noises could be heard.

"Naaat-kuuuuuun!" Natsu's ears perked up at his mother's voice, "Answer the door for me please! I'm busy in the kitchen!"

Natsu grinned at that, "I need to go!"

"Three minutes." Reborn smirked again.

"We're not talking about cup noodles, dammit all!" Natsu groaned.

Natsu didn't expect a middle-aged driver in formal uniform to bow respectfully before him when he opened the door. The nametag on his chest read 'Watari'. The driver gracefully handed him a box with a card on it.

"A present for Tsunayoshi-sama, from the headmaster." Watari explained with a polite smile, before he excused himself with another bow. He then rushed to return to the expensive car Natsu noted was a Rolls Royce. Natsu stared at the box with wonderment as the car raced away from their house.

"Natsu." He turned to the side and saw Tsuna walking towards him. "A delivery?"

Natsu nodded, "A present for you from the headmaster. That Watari guy on the Rolls Royce delivered it right now."

Tsuna tilted his head to the side in a confused manner, "Present? What favor I have done that necessitates a present this time?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. Tsuna made it sound as if it happened often, and he was tired of it.

"A present from Reiko-chan?" Nana squealed as Tsuna put down the box on their living room table.

Tsuna sweat-dropped, "Kaa-san, this is not the first present I've gotten. You don't have to be that excited."

She giggled at that. Natsu merely raised an eyebrow.

"But the presents are always unique and nice! You know Tsu-kun… you shouldn't return presents you don't like." Nana chided him jokingly.

Natsu blinked at that. Tsuna would never do such a rude thing. "You do what?"

Tsuna sighed, "Kaa-san, I returned those presents because we definitely couldn't keep it, or I felt that I didn't deserve it."

"For example?" Natsu asked curiously.

Tsuna paused for a moment. With a tone of finality, he said, "You don't want to know."

Reborn had to say that he was impressed that Natsu quieted down at once and didn't pester his older twin for the details.

Nana was humming as she patiently waited for Tsuna to unwrap the box carefully. She then squealed again at the sight of an undoubtedly custom-made suit. Reborn whistled. The stuff was a high quality one.

"Kyaa… another nice suit for Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna, on the other hand, face-palmed, "Kaa-san, this is the tenth one that the headmaster gave me, this year alone."

"But it's still nice." Nana insisted. Tsuna reluctantly nodded in agreement with a strained smile. "You absolutely have to wear it at the next formal event at your school!"

Tsuna just sighed as he read out loud the card that came with the box, "Thank you for helping Nokoru solve the case. We found the micro-disk, so don't worry…" It ended with a smiley face that winked at him. "Thank goodness Nokoru-kun found it."

Reborn hopped onto the table, "So, that's the detective work Imonoyama Nokoru had to do yesterday?"

Tsuna nodded, "The headmaster apparently lost the micro-disk that contained the list of lecturers and school subjects for next term, It ended well… if not we would've had to hound the headmaster for another week… again. Ha ha ha…"

Natsu blinked, "You can hound the headmaster for that?"

He sighed, "You have no idea how lazy people get when it comes to paperwork- even if it's their duty…"

Reborn could only nod in agreement as he recalled the many times Timoteo ditched paperwork when he was young.

"Hoo…" Natsu looked anywhere but Reborn. Tsuna could foresee his twin ditching paperwork related training in the future.

"Speaking of clothing…" Reborn changed the topic suddenly, "You should take after your brother in that sense." Smirking, he looked appraisingly at Tsuna from head to toe. " I approve of his fashion sense."

Tsuna blinked at that before he smiled at the praise. "Why… thank you, Reborn- though the way I dress is just simple and practical." He tilted his head to the side, "I'm not exactly a fashionista."

That was Hayato's forte. Tsuna preferred to dress in dress shirts and pants. He avoided wearing bright and eye-catching colours. He preferred wearing light colours, such as white or other pale colours, with the colour orange as an exception once in a while. Long ago, he preferred to wear hoodies, jeans and baggie pants like Natsu, but now, with Nana and the headmaster hounding him day and night… he didn't have much choice. Not to mention years ago Innocenti and his mother had ransacked his wardrobe and replaced it with the new one. How the professor convinced his sweet and innocent mother was still a mystery.

"At any rate, I will ransack Natsu's wardrobe." he spoke as if the owner of said wardrobe wasn't in the vicinity or yelling at him to not throw away his favorite jeans. "I would like assistance to replace the content with more appropriate clothing for a future leader of the next generation."

"HEY! My fashion sense is fine!"

Actually, Natsu's fashion sense was similar to his alternate self, with a touch of wild and punk added. Some jeans he owned were ripped; he also had a couple of silver and leather bands. From the small glimpse Tsuna got from his brother's room, he had to agree Natsu had a terrible fashion sense for someone who was supposed to be the heir of Vongola. He had to meet Reborn's standard. The hitman had a very high standard when it comes to clothes after all.

Natsu huffed as he stomped angrily to his room. Tsuna's eyes narrowed when Natsu paused near the doorframe. His phone was ringing. Natsu had his back on them as he checked his phone. He had a new e-mail. Natsu raised an eyebrow, as he didn't recognize the sender.

**_-=Email=-_**

_Tomorrow, after school ends, come to the archery dojo. I shall see if you are worthy to be the sky of Vongola. _

**_-=Email End=-_**

Natsu stared at the screen as he continued walking to his room, followed by a smirking Reborn. None of them were aware of Tsuna's narrowed eyes.

Nana tilted her head to the side. "Tsu-kun, what's wrong?"

Tsuna turned around, a smile painted onto his lips. "Nothing. Kaa-san, would you like to help me with dinner today?"

Nana beamed at the generous offer, "Of course Tsu-kun."

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day: Chess Club Room. <strong>

"Checkmate." Tsuna deadpanned, placing his queen piece in front of his opponent's king. "And that's it for today, Akashi-senpai…"

Akashi, Tsuna's opponent, smirked at the younger boy. "Your third win. So, our score for today is 3-2 in your favor." He was a third year student. As his name suggested, he had red hair. He also had hetero-chromatic eyes; one was yellow and the other was as red as his hair. "Your skill is not rusty, despite the fact you haven't played for months. The way you played today was a bit more vicious than usual though."

Tsuna snorted, "Rather than commenting on my play, how about going back to the gym- so I won't hear a report that Murasakibara-senpai is arguing with Kuroko-senpai again because basketball club captain is not around to keep his teammate in line." He shook his head, "Takeshi, my sport committee leader is a very patient man... but he won't be happy with you if this keep going."

Tsuna sighed. "You don't want Takeshi to scold you."

Akashi had to agree with that and he could imagine the baseball club captain chiding him, '_Sei do not dump all the responsibility on Tsuya.'_

"Please bear in mind that I don't want you cousins arguing over something you can solve by coming more often to supervise your players." Tsuna pointed out loftily.

The red haired captain snorted, "I will keep that in mind, but what's wrong with my vice-captain taking charge like he's supposed to?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at Akashi, "Murasakibara-senpai only listens to you. There is only so much Kuroko-senpai can do when it comes to keeping your team in line."

He snorted, "Ryouta and Daiki listen to him. So does Shintaro to some extent…" Tsuna was still narrowing those eyes at him. "Fine, I'll go back to the gym now… I don't want Takeshi to be mad at me either… "

"Say… " Tsuna paused from leaving when he heard a tone of teasing on Akashi's voice, "If we keep causing trouble what would you do, Kaichou?" he asked with a smirk.

Tsuna smiled benignly at that, "I'll expel you by the next school year- all the way to Kyoto- and maybe Murasakibara can join you there. Or maybe Akita is better for him?"

That city was far away from Namimori.

Akashi blinked, but before he could retort something back, Tsuna had walked away from him.

"I'm joking, Akashi-senpai…" he said, smiling all the way, leaving the basketball team's captain speechless as Tsuna made his exit.

He shook his head. "I should warn my teammates to steer clear from Kaichou for today. Whoever annoys him today is going to meet hell." he muttered to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>The Archery Club Dojo<strong>

Natsu and Reborn were standing before the dojo with a big sign on it. _Kyuudo _waswritten on the sign. The hitman's eyes narrowed as he observed their surroundings.

"Wow… it's deathly silent," Natsu commented.

Reborn sighed, "Just go in already."

Natsu huffed, "Yeah yeah…" He slid the sliding door open to find the dojo completely deserted. "No one here?"

A kick to his head landed him face first onto the floor. "Look carefully!" Reborn hissed.

Natsu would have yelled at Reborn for being a sadistic freak, but the words caught in his throat when he found that Gokudera was already right beside him. He could see the silver haired teen from the corner of his eyes, looking at him with calculating eyes and a bow in his hand. He was dressed in the standard uniform of the archery club, one Natsu would say looked like the uniform wore by shrine maidens; with gloves and a chest protector.

Gokudera narrowed his green eyes at Natsu, "That was so careless of you. If I were an assassin, you would've been killed."

Natsu gritted his teeth, "Oh… I'm sure that I can deal with you just fine."

Gokudera didn't even dignify the statement with a response. He pushed up his glasses up to his nose, before walking away to the row of targets placed in the indoor garden on the dojo. It was a simple garden with Chinese bell flowers, any wildflower you could name and a couple of dandelions growing, along with a lush patch of grass. On either sides of the garden was Susuki grass, growing almost as tall as the ceiling of the dojo. The ceiling of the garden was made of glass to let the sun shine through.

"Did you know? There's one quote I don't really like, or rather, disagree with…" he said, pulling the string of his bow. "Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." He released the arrow and hit the centre of the target. "To be honest, I have to wonder what line divides talented people and genii apart."

Natsu was sure Gokudera was a genius- after all, he didn't get what the silver-haired boy was talking about. Then Reborn hit him because he had thought out loud.

"Way to paint a reliable image of a boss, Baka-Natsu!" Reborn snapped.

"Ouch!" Natsu exclaimed. Growling the next part, Natsu asked, "Now, what do you want then, Gokudera?"

Gokudera narrowed his eyes, "I would like to ask which one you would choose to follow if you were a subordinate. A talented leader that hits a target no one else can hit, or a genius, one that hits target no one else can see?"

Natsu blinked and blinked again, "Erm…" He tilted his head to the side.

'_If someone can hit a target no one can hit, that means he's better than anyone else. But, if a genius can hit something no one else can see, that means that this guy has no competition.' _he mused. '_So, the genius is so great because he can see what no one else can see. Though… following people who do something no one can understand, including yourself, sounds pretty naïve. But, since Gokudera is undoubtedly a genius, maybe I should answer that I'd follow a genius…'_

"You really should stop speaking your mind out loud Sawada Natsuhiko." Gokudera said, rubbing the back of his head. Natsuhiko flushed a deep red as he covered his mouth in a hurry. "You're a very simple-minded person I see…"

That was one thing that set the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this world apart from the one from the other world. The man he followed was always concerned for the wellbeing of others, like the Vongola Decimo, but while the mafia boss always did what he thought was the best…

He shook his head, shaking those thoughts out of his head, "Very well… it seems we shall do this in the simplest manner possible." Natsu raised an eyebrow at that, "Follow me…"

Gokudera led them to the back garden of the dojo. Although you could call it a garden, it was more like a meadow. You could only see the grass- that reached their knees- and some towering rocks the size of a tractor. Natsu swore this looked like a setting of a samurai movie he watched when he was little.

"So…going as far as to drag me here… what do you want, Gokudera?" Natsuhiko asked, "Is this a test or what?" His eyes widened when he saw Gokudera shoot an arrow. It grazed his cheek. A smirking Gokudera had raised his bow. The arrow hit the ground and it exploded, "What the hell?"

"Show me your resolve..." Gokudera continued to smirk, lowering his bow, "Candidate for Vongola Decimo, Sawada Natsuhiko..."

Natsu smirked right back, "Fine! If I win... you'll join my family and become my storm!"

"BAKA-NATSU!" Reborn gritted his teeth, "He wants you to show your resolve!" This was bad, he didn't expect this. In an all-out battle with Gokudera, Natsu might get killed! Thankfully Smoking- Bomb Hayato didn't ask Natsu to beat him, but the brat was too dumb to understand that. Anyways, that arrow just now...

Natsu's left eye twitched, "What's the difference?"

Gokudera sighed wearily, "A lot, Sawada... I want to see if I can accept that resolve of yours."

"Okay!" He grinned cheekily.

The silver-haired storm smiled softly. _What a naive boy._ _Unfortunately for him..._ _I only have one sky._

"Let's begin then..."

**Namimori Gakuen, East Garden **

"How beautiful…" he said, looking at the bush sculpture the gardener had pruned. It was shaped like a king chess piece. Considering that the garden was near the chess club, he was sure they would appreciate the gardener's effort to please them. "Wonderful artwork as always, Tsuruga-san."

The two gardeners smiled at him. They were a married couple that was hired by Imonoyama to care for their garden from time to time. "Oh my… Kaichou-san, thank you very much…"

Tsuna chuckled softly, "Pruning seems like a very tedious job." he commented good-naturedly.

Tsuruga-san shook his head, "Tedious, but necessary- in order for the plant to grow healthy and beautiful." he said, expertly pruning the bush to form the crown for the king piece. "Some plants need pruning so they can bear more flower and fruits too. We can also control its growth this way…"

"Hm… unnecessary and necessary…" he whispered hoarsely, his eyes darkening, "Should we? Then again… we've gone too far to stop now…"

"Hm?" Tsuruga-san turned around, "Did you say something to this old man, Kaichou-san?"

The brunet smiled sheepishly, "Ah, it's nothing, Tsuruga-san."

The gardener frowned; such a young boy shouldn't make a face like that. He was a son of a survivor of WW2; he had seen his father's haunted eyes after he returned from the war. He had the eyes of people who were haunted by bloodshed. He saw those eyes for a brief moment in Tsunayoshi-kaichou's young face. He didn't know why but…

"The Nadeshiko flower blooms in this season." The gardener grinned when he saw Tsuna's ears perk up at the news, "I'm sure we have plenty for your office… and for a beautiful bouquet that my wife, Kyouko, would love to arrange for your mother."

He gave Tsuna a wink.

The Nadeshiko flower- the flower that represented Japanese woman. It was his mother's favorite. She would be so happy if he brought some home. "Thank you very much, Tsuruga-san!"

* * *

><p><strong>The Archery Dojo's backyard<strong>

It had been only ten minutes, and Reborn had already shot two Dying Will bullets and one enhancement bullet. But nothing he tried manage to even graze Gokudera.

"You coward… hiding throughout the entire fight? Face me like a man!" he snarled at Gokudera.

"Are you dumb?" Gokudera asked in a deadpan tone, "If I recall correctly, this is a test to recruit me to your _mafia_ famiglia… I wonder since when fighting like an honorable man is ever under description of mafia?"

Natsu opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out of his mouth as Reborn drawled, "We are on the other side of the law, Baka-Natsu, now shut your mouth and fight."

Even Reborn knew to not to ask Natsu to win. It was one thing to fight with a dying will, but a fight to the death with Gokudera was not worth the risk.

But at this rate…

The brunet snarled as he swung his fist to catch Gokudera's hand- the hand that was holding the sharp end of the arrow- in an attempt to stop the agile archer. But what he caught was merely empty air. Gokudera, in a split second, had moved backward. Natsu gritted his teeth in irritation. Gokudera was strong, yes, but more importantly he was agile. It was like trying to catch the wind.

_As expected of the grandson of Coyote Nougat_. Reborn thought amusedly. For some reason, he couldn't help but be elated to see an individual with such potential, and yet… he was untouchable.

"Hn."

Reborn narrowed his eyes as he watched Gokudera shift the gravity of his body to his waist and let his body fall backward slightly. It was like magic that Gokudera managed to distance himself in such a short time with such a simple trick. Natsu had to jump to dodge the exploding arrow that headed his way. Reborn had to say that Gokudera's weapon was neither impressive nor unique. It seemed the boy had become bored of dynamite at some point and had exchanged it for something traditional like a bow, but still exploding like his nickname was.

The trick behind the exploding arrows was also ridiculously simple. Reborn concluded it was just an arrow-shaped dynamite. The fuse lit up because of the friction with the air. It was a simple weapon but still dangerous if wielded carelessly. This boy was an experienced fighter.

The old bomber, Reborn knew, might have accidentally lit up too many dynamite and blown himself up: a mistake Reborn was sure would've occurred if Natsu had managed to annoy him too much. Gokudera used to be a hotheaded kid, according to Shamal, but this boy… no matter how much Natsu taunted him to fight in close combat, he never wavered.

Reborn smirked when he saw Natsu managed to close the distance between them.

_Not bad for a brat that fights mostly by instinct,_ Reborn thought.

Then again, the method was very rough and risky; only people who fought with their Dying Will would do such a thing. Natsu had run straight to Gokudera when he had released his arrow, instead of trying to dodge, Gokudera froze for a split second because he didn't want to really injure Natsu gravely. And so, he reacted too slowly, letting Natsu slap the body of the arrow away just before it exploded.

"I've got you now!" Natsu yelled as he readied his fist to punch the daylight out of Gokudera.

"How naïve."

Natsu yelped in pain as he found his fist trapped on the string of the bow, drawing a bit of blood as it wrapped around his fist and wrist. "Ugh!"

Reborn gritted his teeth, "Che… Natsu, you idiot…"

He looked up, glaring at Gokudera, who returned his gaze coolly at him, "It's true that weapon- wise… I am ill _equipped_ for close combat- but, it's too naïve to assume that _I _am ill suited for close combat." he said, holding the curve of his bow with one hand to keep Natsu's bloody fist in hand.

The boy would've tried to punch with his other hand, but Gokudera could tell his mind was taking a leave because of shock. There was a reason why illusionists could kill without touching their enemies. The mind was such a delicate thing for those unprepared.

"My apologies, but you are no match for me…" And with that, he knocked Natsu down with a chop to the neck. The boy fell like a log to the ground. He was still conscious, but paralyzed by the last attack. He could still breathe and talk, however.

"Amazing…" Reborn commented coolly, "So, you have deemed Natsu unworthy then?"

Gokudera shook his head, "Unworthy or not, it's not my concern if this boy becomes the Vongola Decimo or not." he stated bluntly.

Natsu's eyes widened, "Then why…"

"I told you, right?" he drawled, "I wanted to see your resolve, nothing more… Maybe Reborn-san already knows about this, but I said nothing about becoming your subordinate even if you had won this fight."

"You fooled me?" Natsu hissed in anger.

Gokudera shook his head again, "I never promised anything but an answer to your offer, and it's a no…"

Reborn snorted at that, "My hopes might've been too high if I thought that if Natsu could impress you enough, you would accept our offer, Gokudera Hayato."

Gokudera chuckled softly, "Oh, he impressed me with his stubbornness… I thought he would give up sooner and not have been injured as much; however…"

"WHY THEN?" Natsu roared as he struggled to stand up. He only managed to kneel on the ground. "The Vongola is the strongest famiglia in the mafia! Why would you refuse to be a guardian of Vongola?"

The silver-haired teen smiled wanly at that, "Because… I pledge my loyalty to no one else but _him_."

Reborn narrowed his eyes, as he knew about whom Gokudera referred to.

"I might not have the title of guardian nor a ring to honor me as such, but my loyalty to him will never waver…" He turned around, leaving the injured boy and world's greatest hitman in the distance. "With my loyalty, it will not matter whether I stand in the light or the shadow…"

_He is the only sky the storm will follow, even to the ends of the world. This is my pride… and honor. _

"You lost, Baka-Natsu…" Reborn said, watching Gokudera walk away.

Natsu groaned, biting down on his lower lip to stop himself from crying in pain. "Why?"

"Because his resolve… his loyalty… is too strong… "

It was as simple as that.

* * *

><p><strong>The quote refers to Tsuna's (of this world) resolve to not repeat what his alternate self and Primo did. <strong>

**I am too lazy to write an author note...**

**Innocenti Sunny is Sani from the manga Toriko, and his sister named Rin. I think at one point, either in the manga or **

**anime, Lambo mentioned that he had an aunty named Ottavia so I just merged the name to one odd name~ So yeah, Lambo is their nephew and he is older than he is in canon... the Lambo of this world is two years older- he's seven years old. So, presently, he would be nine years old.**

**Reference  
><strong>

Wow, no wonder they were siblings. Tsuna sweat-dropped. '_And what's with that, they sounds like Shizuka-chan from anime Natsu liked to watch when we were four.' _

_**(****Shizuka-chan from Doraemon is famous for her dream bathing in milk I get the idea from TWGOK)**  
><em>

"Please bear in mind that I don't want you cousins arguing over something you can solve by coming more often to supervise your players." Tsuna pointed out loftily.

_**(Yes, Kuroko no Basket Akashi, Kuroko and Yamamoto are cousins in this universe.)**_

**I'll give you a little 'future' preview... maybe I will put the 'past' preview later...**

* * *

><p><span>Future: We Are The Namimori Gakuen Student Council!<span>

Spanner handed him a white card, "The student council invited you to their afternoon tea. Come with me, Sawada…"

"Welcome, Sawada Natsuhiko. I am Irie Shouichi, the vice president of the Student Council..." The red haired teen introduced himself, "I would like to inquire about the behavior you displayed yesterday. Walking around in your boxers is simply... indecent."

Natsu decided he disliked his brother's second vice president. This Irie Shouchi was a stuck-up elite.

"He's not stuck-up. Anyone _normal _would call walking around in your boxers indecent." Reborn pointed out.

* * *

><p>Review Please<p>

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	5. 4th Axis

**Let's say my late update have something to do with my real life and my job... which seriously one of these days I might get myself killed for deadline and crossing the death line (no pun intended)  
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**BTW not much comment on the story... but this story for some reason have so many question from you readers, I mean... my other story didn't receive as much as question as this one. Then again ^^ this is the most popular story of mine lately~  
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**I will write a corner titled "Ask Tsuna-kaichou!" on the bottom where Tsuna-kaichou will answer all of your question!  
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**Update 23-01-13: Beta-ed by Crimsonpheonix271 and EK12  
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* * *

><p><strong>Past: <strong>Silver Lining in Dark Cloud

**_In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing._**  
><strong><span>Theodore Roosevelt<span>**

Lambo's somewhat timely arrival was not expected, though according to Takeshi, since we already had storm, lightning was bound to follow. If the casual remark wasn't aimed at him and Lambo, Gokudera would have retorted with a snide comment. Instead, the bomber chose to lunge at Takeshi. Thankfully he chose primitive brawling without any dynamite involved.

Tsuna could stop Hayato and Takeshi, but unlike his counterpart who always tried to make peace; the Tsunayoshi of this world wouldn't do the same. Mafia or not Hayato was still a child and he won't do permanent harm to his friend. The worse he could do was childish scratch, weak punches and kicks which wouldn't be able to wipe away Takeshi's goofy grin. Sometimes, much to his chagrin and amusement, he saw their brawls like a puppy and a kitten playing together. Gokudera the bad tempered kitty and Takeshi the happy puppy.

He won't say it out loud though, since Hayato would be completely crushed if he heard such thing from Tsuna.

They had stopped their playful fight, because someone had demanded for them to let him join. Lambo in spite of being older in this world, his childishness was only slightly better. For one, he threw fewer tantrums than his alternate self, and listened to his brother who was Tsuna.

"Let me join in! It looks fun!" Lambo cheered as he jumped on Gokudera's head.

Gokudera scowled as he ran around the living room with Lambo perched on the top of Gokudera's head, much to Lambo's amusement, "Stupid cow! Don't grab my hair!"

"Ha ha ha!" Takeshi laughed at the sight before running from enraged Gokudera.

"Here we go again…" Tsuna rolled his eyes, "Guys! That's enough! You've made too much mess in this room already!"

They froze in their tracks, "Ah!"

It was about time they realized the room was a perfect imitation of shipwreck, and Innocenti would be angry for sure. On second thought forget Innocenti, "Clean up everything." Tsuna ordered sternly.

Lampo pouted, "But Tsuna-nii!"

"I told you…" Lambo winced at the tone Tsuna used; it was not harsh or angry just stern and kind. "If you make a mess you have to clean it up, be responsible of your doing.

Takeshi, Hayato and Lambo looked down; Tsuna swore he saw imaginary animal ears flopped down on the tops of their heads. "Hai…"

Innocenti walked into the room, sighing at the sight of the dejected children in front of Tsuna. They started cleaning up vigorously, eager to please the brunette. Innocenti had to wonder if it was possible to bottled up Tsuna's charisma and research it. One of many insane ideas he had, Innocenti mused.

"You would be a good father one day Tsuna." Innocenti said as he gracefully sat on the sofa beside the brown haired boy.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, "Normally you won't say that to a ten years old."

Innocenti rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry… it just slipped out." He glanced at the busy children; it seemed they hadn't even noticed that he was in the room. They were really concentrating on their task.

"I guess you are a good older brother." Lambo was totally taken by the boy.

It might something to do with what happened last week when Rin and Lambo arrived on their mansion. Tsuna without contemplating his own safety scooped Lambo up then pulled his friends to the small lake near the mansion. It was not a deep lake, but taking into account that Lambo was perched on his shoulder and Tsuna was not a good swimmer. The boy had almost drowned if not for Innocenti and Rin who had saved him. Takeshi and Hayato had tried to help but Lambo had been too panicked and scared to let go of Tsuna.

Innocenti and Rin felt really guilty because they had thought nothing dangerous would happen, especially as long as you stepped out of their way you wouldn't get trampled. Not to mention both Hayato and Takeshi were armed; Innocenti thought the boys would have threatened the herd to back out. Then again he overestimated them, anyone could have their brain cease functioning in that kind of situation. They might have dreamed about being cornered in dangerous situations but their bodies didn't know that.

Hayato and Takeshi were ashamed of their inability to protect Tsuna, and Lambo in spite of being a selfish brat was sensitive enough to know that he had almost drowned the nice brother he just met. Tsuna consoled them, pointing out he was also careless and didn't think in that situation. Hayato and Takeshi relented because their guilt saddened Tsuna, but Innocenti knew the boys trained harder to make up for it.

Lambo on the other hand decided Tsuna was now his brother and followed the older boy like a chick much to Rin's amusement. Innocenti, much to his ire, had to explain to Rin about the boy's issue, because if their nephew was involved he couldn't hide it from Rin. The tomboyish scientist was shocked at first and almost threw a tantrum when she heard what would happen to their nephew. In spite of her annoyance to babysit her nephew, to Rin, Lambo was the only link they had to their deceased older sister.

Innocenti ran a few test and found out Lambo hadn't dreamed at all. Rin was not convinced Lambo would be okay, especially since he was younger than Tsuna and the rest. She was scared her nephew would damage his mind by the memories. Tsuna was reluctant but they tried to share the memories Lambo would have in the future. The Lambo from a parallel world was a five year old, and very much unaware of his surroundings. He got kicked around by Reborn in daily basis, and acted like the king of the world. Even when he was almost killed by Levi of the Varia, he could still be so cheery when Gokudera visited him in hospital.

Rin didn't know if that story was good or bad news, since the sanity of Lambo in the other world she heard of was questionable. So she decided that fretting over it wouldn't solve anything, but at least she and Innocenti would be by his side to help. Innocenti was sure the assurance Tsuna had given her was what stopped her from becoming hysterical. What he said was just a mere consolation but the boy was so sincere that you couldn't doubt him.

* * *

><p>Tsuna looked down at that, "I wonder about that…"<p>

The scientist glanced at the boy beside him, once again awed by the maturity and charisma the boy had. It had something to do with memory of his older self from parallel world for sure. Innocenti, in spite of knowing Tsuna was a ten year old boy, couldn't help but treat him like a young adult. The other boys however, in spite maturing like Tsuna did, were very much still children. Why the memories didn't affect them as much as Tsuna might have something to do with Tsuna's background.

Innocenti was close with Nana and he could tell that a loving mother had raised Tsuna and showered him with affection. The absence of a father didn't affect him much. As far as Innocenti could tell Tsuna wasn't angry with his father because the young lion was never around; Tsuna's dislike or perhaps hate stemmed on his mother's longing for Iemitsu while the man was busy endangering himself in underground.

'_Well… and then he goes and takes Tsuna's younger twin away to that dark world.' _Innocenti mused grimly.

"Sometimes… "Tsuna drawled sadly, "I wonder if…"

Innocenti sighed, why did this child have such complicated issues in his life? "Wondering if you are doing what is right won't solve any problems…"_ And you think too much already, it'll wear you out. _

Tsuna's lips curved up to a smile as he looked at Innocenti. "You're right… thank you for staying with us through this professor…"

Innocenti stared at the smiling boy then said, "Has anyone told you that that smile of yours is _really _dangerous?"

"Eh?"

* * *

><p><strong>Next Day, Namimori Elementary School<strong>

Tsuna had dreaded this day to come, the only comfort was that Takeshi and Hayato would be there with him. Tsuna knew he was not the luckiest boy if his friends were somewhere else when Hibari Kyouya decided to confront him. While Hayato and Takeshi were with him most of the time, today Takeshi had a baseball practice and Gokudera went to run an errand for Innocenti. They left him just for one hour, and he got into trouble in record time.

"Herbivore…"

"Yes?" Tsuna smiled, trying to hide that he was ready to bolt out of his seat. He had to wonder how Hibari could order headmaster to call him out to the counseling room. "Is there something you need from me Hibari-senpai?" _Hopefully it's not my life._

"What would a carnivore like me would need from a herbivore like you?" Hibari asked coolly.

Tsuna refrain from pointing out that carnivores live on a herbivore's meat, that witty remark would get him bitten to death for sure. "Right, my apologies for assuming."

Silence…

"I will be blunt." HIbari stated.

And Tsuna had to bite down a retort, since when had Hibari ever bothered being subtle?

"Uhm…"

"I don't like you."

"…"

"…"

"..."

"And I would never become your friend, and definitely not a comrade." Hibari hissed venomously. "Is that clear?"

Much to his shock, Tsuna just looked at him with unwavering eyes. Hibari scowled as he felt his body refused to move, refusing to teach the herbivore a lesson for looking at him with those eyes. Tsuna kept the silence for a few seconds before he smiled, a smile that made Hibari's stomach turn.

"Crystal clear, Hibari-san…" He answered, there's nothing but acceptance in his voice.

Hibari gritted his teeth, "I really don't like you."

"You don't have to…" Tsuna replied sincerely, "It's always your choice… Hibari-san's always doing what Hibari-san's wanted." Something he was jealous of.

"What do you know about me?" Hibari growled.

Tsuna shook his head, "It's not what I know, but what I see… "

"Hn."

Then he stood up, "If that's all… I would like to return to my class, the next subject is literature and it's my favourite. I would not like to miss it."

Hibari snorted, "Just go, and I don't need to know why you want to go back to class."

Tsuna shook his head, "You don't." He agreed, "But telling you that is also my choice." And with that he closed the door with a click.

Hibari glared at the closed door with ire then lay himself down on the coach, since he had dreamed that nonsense world Hibari never really enjoyed his naps. Dreams of having bonds with someone without being bound, what nonsense.

But…

"**It's always your choice."**

Hibari closed his eyes, ready to enter his hopefully dreamless sleep.

The cloud was never bound to the sky, but it could stay aloof and free because sky was limitless enough for it to drift away as it pleases.

"**Hibari-san always doing what Hibari-san wanted."**

That herbivore was really getting on his nerve, being all knowing about him. And the worse part he couldn't deny any of it. Hibari Kyouya might be violent and didn't like to listen to someone else's opinion. A verbal fight was something he couldn't lose since a carnivore would always win against herbivore.

But Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't fight verbally with him, there was no fight in the first place. Hibari Kyouya however couldn't help but feel defeated for some reason by a mere herbivore named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

* * *

><p>"Tsuna!" Yamamoto called him to as he was on the way to class from Hibari's room. "Are you alright?"<p>

"That bastard didn't do anything, did he?" Gokudera growled as his hands twitched, thankfully Tsuna had forbidden him from pulling out dynamites in public.

Tsuna smiled knowingly, "Nope! Hibari-san was just being Hibari Kyouya-san."

"..."

Gokudera groaned, "It doesn't sound so good for that bastard being the bastard that he is..."

"Hayato, language..." Tsuna warned, "And no, he didn't even try any bodily harm... he is civil as long as no one get on his nerve." Tsuna pointed out, "And as of late, I have not..." Unexpectedly ignoring his glare was the best course of action, Hibari would have bitten him to death if he had dare. Hibari disliked to be tied down, just like the cloud that drifting by through the sky freely.

"But..."

Tsuna shook his head, "Every cloud has a silver lining... even the darkest one."

Hayato stared at him in disbelief, "Uhm, does this mean even _that _Hibari has a good side in him..."

"Everyone has one!" Yamamoto supplied cheerfully, "Including Hibari! By the way, does this mean we can welcome him to our circle of friends?"

The silver haired boy blanched, "You do that." Hayato offered generously, "I would like to see how you survive him." Tsuna sighed, the way Hayato was talking about Hibari sounded like the skylark was some sort of natural disaster than a human being. Then again majority of school population would agree with Hayato about that.

"HIBARIIIIIIIIII!" A boisterous voice echoed through the corridor and Hayato dragged them behind the nearest pillar, "LET'S HAVE AN EXTREME FRIENDLY MATCH!" A certain white haired boxer yelled as he slammed Hibari's door open with a bang.

"..."

"..."

It didn't take long for a cold murderous voice to come out from the room, **"I will bite you to death."**

"EXTREME! By the way Hibari!" Crash! BANG! POW! "I had extreme dream lately about me and you are part of Sawada's family or is it a team?" He said in indoor voice of his which loud enough to be heard by Tsuna and co in corridor.

Tsuna and co would be worried if someone else yelling about their parallel dream, but in their school everyone stayed away whenever Ryohei's yelling could be heard in twenty feet radius with a very few exception which make out of Tsuna and his friends. Not to mention no one took Ryohei's rambling seriously.

"He still didn't notice..." Hayato concluded, "I know he is not the sharpest tool on the shed but this is beyond ridiculous."

"You think we should just explain to him already?" Takeshi suggested, "Before Ryohei-senpai gets killed? On his quest of making his dream reality that is..." Which involved extreme friendship and rivalry with Hibari, and the prefect was not pleased at all.

Tsuna stared at noisy room whose door seemed ready to burst from the banging, "Sun and Cloud..."

"Clouds won't have silver lining without the sun, right Tsuna?" Yamamoto commented with a grin.

Hayato rolled his eyes, "You think?" He snorted, "As far as I see Turf-top brings out the most violent side of Hibari with annoying him on daily basis, how is that a silver lining?"

Tsuna chuckled softly at that, "Ha ha ha... I guess this is just how sun and cloud work around each other."

"Does this mean we can welcome them already?" Takeshi asked excitedly.

"You are still..." Hayato stared at him incredulously.

Tsuna smiled at that, "For a start... we should figure out how to stop them from killing each other."

Sun would always shine brightly in the sky even in cloudiest day, if anything the presence of the cloud would make it desire to shine brighter, to shine through the cloud.

* * *

><p><strong>Future: <strong>We are The Student Council! Nice to meet you!

**My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.**  
><strong><span>John Lennon<span>**

Shamal had been in many situations due to his connection with certain arcobaleno but never in his wildest dreams had he had to do this. No matter how much favour he owed Vongola and Reborn, this was simply ridiculous. He understood that he had to be near in case the brat Reborn was in charge of got the side effect of dying will bullet or was gravely injured. Nothing less than the best of the best for the heir of Vongola, and he happened to be the greatest mafia doctor in the world.

Reborn had no idea how much trouble he went through to get himself hired at Namimori Gakuen. The school had a squad of doctors and one building for infirmary alone, in short the infirmary was actually a hospital. They were in no way in need for additional staff and just to apply for this school Shamal had to do a lot of information tampering. If not for the fact he had seen the school itself, Shamal would have thought he was going to infiltrate FBI or ICA instead due to the sheer security he had to go through. He was also well aware that the Imonoyamas, who owned the school, probably knew him and his background and that he passed their screening just because they allowed him to. Imonoyamas were famed for the eccentric attitude and intelligence.

He was surprised to find out that Hayato was the vice president of the school, and even more surprised that the bomber was the one responsible for the Vongola heir's first land in the infirmary. Apparently the brat had tried to recruit Hayato to be one of his guardians and failed to even match Shamal's former ward. The boy was physically fine, only a bit charred here and there and some cuts that wouldn't even leave a mark but Shamal could spot from miles away how gravely injured the boy's pride was. Whatever Hayato had done to the boy severely crushed the boy's pride.

Shamal had met the boy a couple of times for his annual health check-ups back then in Italy. Sawada Natsuhiko, in Shamal's opinion, was an annoying Daddy's boy, stubborn, short-tempered, strong-willed, impulsive, naïve and whatever else that could drive Shamal up the wall. Sometimes the boy also attempted to maintain a detached and "cool" image that may came from his father's theatrical tendencies. He found little Hayato's clinginess to be like him an annoyance but Natsu was on another level of annoying. The brat does have potential to be a good boss, if he stopped fooling around.

But now… the loud brat was so silent that if not for the faint sound of his breathing Shamal would think the brat was already on the other side. Shamal crossed his arms then looked at Reborn who for once in spite of his expressionless face looked sullen.

"Reborn… what the hell happened to this Nuts-brat?"(?a nickname?) Shamal asked as he pointed at Natsu who curled up in a fetal position on infirmary's bed, looking gloomier than ever with a purple cloud of depression surrounding him.

The arcobaleno sighed, "That Smoking bomb Hayato… "He said tonelessly, "You and Innocenti did a good job with him, do me a favour to help training this brat or his guardians later Shamal…"

Shamal raised an eyebrow at that, "I definitely have no hand in this Reborn, I taught that brat how to use dynamite when he was around six... But the techniques that he has are developed on his own. When he was ten I left him to Innocenti and have next to nothing contact with Hayato." Shamal explained, "All I knew was… when he was ten that lone brat start to going out with some of his friends and then became who he is now… Innocenti had never told me about his fighting skills." A pause, "Innocenti is someone who, if you don't ask, will never tell and when you do ask, depending on his mood, would tell the truth, which sometimes is a riddle. But if you are unlucky he will tell you an outright lie and you will never see it coming." Shamal shook his head, "What a troublesome friend he is… but I am sure Innocenti wasn't lying about those friends of Hayato."

"Hm…" Reborn hummed, "Those friends… probably the current student council members."

Shamal nodded, "The leader is Iemitsu's older son… right?"

"Hn." Reborn nodded. "Are you curious?"

Shamal nodded, "Well… he is the son of that man after all… Sawada Tsunayoshi…" He hummed, "Usually I'm not interested in men but I am curious as to what kind of man Hayato pledged his loyalty to."

The door opened at that moment, revealing the silver haired boy known as Gokudera Hayato. He looked irritated and was about scream bloody murder, "Hello Shamal… damn bastard, first day working and you're already making a problem." He hissed threateningly. The room suddenly felt suffocating, as if a turbulent storm was brewing just by his mere presence. Reborn's lip curved down, what a pity Natsu was unable to catch this turbulent storm, it would be hard to find someone who was as good as Gokudera Hayato. The boy was the very personification of storm, a perfect candidate of a storm guardian.

Shamal grinned, "Hello Hayato… you mean the girls I tried to charm this morning?"

"You mean girls you flirted with?" He snorted, "They filed up a complaint about a perverted doctor they met this morning in the infirmary."

The doctor shook his head, "Come on Hayato, you know me… I am not really serious."

He nodded in agreement, "I know you are not… " Hayato sighed tiredly, "Which is the very reason you are not in a bloody pulp now as I know you are just fooling around and are not going to molest school girls. You are not that low…" He trailed off as Shamal nodded in agreement, satisfied his former charge understood that he was a chivalrous pervert and not just a pervert. "However… the student council still has a problem with a doctor, whose status in this school is on equal level with teachers, trying to hit on students." He said then turned around then opened the door again, "Kaichou… Takeshi… you guys can come in now."

Their eyes widened when they saw Tsuna and Yamamoto entered the room, both were wearing their signature smile when Hayato had stoic expression on his face. "Hello… Shamal-sensei, I believe my brother is in good hands. So how is he?"

Shamal was taken back for a moment, damn Reborn for not warning him about this boy's appearance. For a moment he had thought he was looking at a ghost, as this boy looked like Vongola Primo, and it was so identical that it was almost scary. No wonder Iemitsu was so tight-lipped about this Sawada Tsunayoshi. He knew Hayato looked like G, but so does Coyote Nougat though the older man had rougher look even when he was young so he was not as identical as Hayato was to the first Storm guardian. He was sure the resemblance was kept secret by Reborn just to amuse the Hitman to see how Shamal would react.

"The boy is resting." He answered coolly; at one point in the middle of conversation the boy had stopped brooding and finally fell asleep because of exhaustion. "He will be fine after plenty of rest."

"I see… thank you very much for your help Shamal-sensei." Tsuna said, smiling gently at him.

Shamal nodded curtly, the boy had a calming present. Just now Hayato had made the room all tense with his stormy attitude but now there was some sort of harmony in the room. Shamal, honestly was disappointed he couldn't feel any trace of flame in Sawada Tsunayoshi, the boy had undoubtedly inherited the sky flame from his ancestor if he could invest it. Maybe Reborn one of these days should try to shot this boy with a dying will bullet?

Tsuna titled his head to where Natsu was resting, "I came to check on my brother, I am glad he is fine… "

Reborn snorted, the fight might be one of the worse beatings Natsu had ever had but the boy was not so easy to break. Reborn was sure Natsu would be bouncing like a hyper brat again by tomorrow morning or maybe tonight. "That's not the only reason you came here… Tsuna." That was a statement not a guess.

"Correct, though I think it could wait until school is over for today." Tsuna replied calmly.

Reborn raised an eyebrow, "Why don't you have a check up Tsuna? I heard from Iemitsu you were a sickly child."

Shamal snorted at that, Reborn was indirectly asking him to check Tsuna's potential. Tsuna tensed a little but quickly calmed himself down before anyone could notice it, "That's very kind of you Reborn…"

The mafia doctor's left eye twitched, this boy was a bit weird in the head or something? Putting Reborn and kind in the same sentence? "I think you really need a check up." He said in a heartbeat, and then looked at Tsuna closely. "Excuse me…" His hand raised, ready to check just in case.

In an instant Hayato and Takeshi had grabbed Shamal's hand roughly, pulling him away from Tsuna and the next thing Shamal knew he had a bamboo sword on the left side of his neck and a dynamite in another side. Reborn's eyes widened for a moment, he hadn't expected that they could catch Shamal off guard. Even if only for a moment was Shamal careless, he was still a veteran mafia, for these boys to restrain him was prodigious!

Hayato growled threateningly, "Keep your hands where they belong Shamal… my former mentor or not I will beat you to a bloody pulp if you dare lay a hand on Kaichou."

Takeshi had a wide grin on his face but it didn't reach his eyes which had narrowed into a murderous expression. "Hayato is right… if you are not careful you might lose your precious hands Shamal-sensei!" He said cheerfully.

Shamal was caught off guard but he stayed calm, he was not a veteran for nothing. "I am just checking if he really is male, but it seems he is… no need to be worried as I only treat girls. That brat over there is special exception because I owe that Reborn a favour…"

Hayato gritted his teeth, "And what make you think…"

"We will let this slide Shamal-sensei?" Takeshi continued.

"Hayato, Takeshi." Tsuna called them and at once their hold loosened, "Release him at once."

They looked reluctant but quickly withdrawn their weapon. "Yes… Kaichou." They said in unison as returned to Tsuna's side.

Reborn mentally gave an X mark over the names of the student council members from potential guardian's list. If they were anywhere near as loyal as Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto Takeshi were to Tsuna, it would be next to impossible for them to pledge the same loyalty to Natsuhiko.

"It seems this talk will not wait till later." Tsuna said sternly, and Reborn's attention once again focused on him. Shamal frowned, he had a feeling he wouldn't like it. "Trident Shamal… you are a very talented doctor, a rare generalist according to the CV you submit to us… " Tsuna began, "However…" he trailed off in sad tone, then he smiled benignly. "My apologies, but I have to ask you to resign right away."

"…"

"…" Even Reborn was speechless, did he hear that right?

"You mean…"

Tsuna's smile turned sheepish, "I am sorry if I am not direct enough… you are hereby discharged from your position as school doctor." He tried to rephrase his sentence.

Shamal blinked and blinked then he repeated, "You mean?"

Hayato snorted, "You are **_fired_** Shamal, how blunt do you want us to be? I'm sure you're not that thick headed!"

A pause, "You must be kidding me." He said exasperatedly, "You can't fire people just like that, and you are not the one who pay me… and so far I have not receive any letter from headmaster saying that she has fired me." He said as he pointed his thumb to his chest.

Tsuna chuckled softly at that, "Oh… don't worry she will be informed, but she is not the one who will dismiss you, Shamal-sensei… I am." Tsuna said as he pressed his palm against his chest.

"Brat…" Shamal sighed exasperatedly, "Look, I get it… you are annoyed that I thought you might be a girl but seriously… drop the joke before I become angry for real."

Tsuna raised his hand in placating gesture, "I would never… once again I apologize, but you should know in this school our decision making power as student council override even board governor."

Shamal narrowed his eyes, "Headmaster have authority over school including faculty member like you, however if we want to dismiss you with adequate reason… it's within our power to do so." Tsuna explained with a smile.

Shamal snorted, he had heard how powerful student council was in this school but this was almost unrealistic. So kids wanted to play adult's game? "Okay… but what kind of adequate reason you have to dismiss me?"

Unexpectedly it was Hayato who suddenly fished out a thin file from inside his jacket. "Reason?" he snorted, "We have reasons… " He cleared his throat, "This morning two girls from the high school division came to the infirmary to get their pain medication for…" Hayato trailed off and coughed uncertainly. "Their period, however, you made them uncomfortable with asking for a kiss after handing them the medication they needed."

The girls had only asked for some pain medication without telling him the reason, though any experienced doctor could tell why they wanted it. "Some nurses also filed a report about you asking the same to them, they also wrote you were eying their uniform with _wandering _eyes."

Actually they wrote _lewd_ and it was their chest and bottom Shamal was staring at but Hayato was not going to say that out loud in front of Tsuna. Beside it was not like anyone in the room didn't get the implication.

"One of the basketball club members came to the infirmary two hours ago because he scrapped his knees. You refused to treat him because apparently… he lack of fe... of female… the vice-captain who filed up the complain was furious!" Hayato summarized in deadpan tone. "Now you get why we fired you? Want to read it yourself? I am not going to repeat myself."

Shamal scratched the back of his head, "You guys seriously going to fire me?"

Hayato snorted, "Correction… we _fired _you, we are _telling_ you that now…"

He cleared his throat, stopping Hayato from speaking further that might escalated to an argument. Knowing his right hand man, Tsuna was sure he would start throwing insult to each other with Shamal. "This school can't have a doctor with problematic attitude like this, as the student's well being is at stake… so yes Shamal-sensei, I am really serious about your dismissal."

Shamal locked his eyes to Tsuna's, he gritted his teeth. It was not his dismissal that irritated him but there was something about this boy that made him feel so small. It was different from what he felt when facing a mafia boss where fear and respect was involved, this boy… it was just his plain sincerity to make things right that drove Shamal up the wall. This boy's mere presence made people who do wrong, a mafia doctor like him felt guilty. He would like to act ignorant and drunk like usual but he couldn't. He looked at Reborn, silently stating '_this boy is dangerous'_ with a mere glance.

Reborn for the first time joined in the conversation, "Shamal is needed, and he is indispensable."

Tsuna eyed Reborn curiously, "Why?"

"Natsu need him" He answered curtly. "It's me and your father who recommended Shamal to this school; he was also your brother's personal doctor back in Italy… I am afraid his dismissal would severely endanger your brother's well being." It might sound like an excuse but it was a fact, as if Natsu suffered the side effect of dying will bullet only Shamal could help him, not to mention if mafia assassins came to assault Natsu they could only trust Shamal to keep quiet about it. Not to mention that he was sure no matter how great the doctors the Imonoyamas had hired in this school, they were not as experienced as Shamal to threat injuries that caused by mafia's assassination technique including dying will flames.

Tsuna understand what Reborn was trying to imply, however… "I can't just place one student's wellbeing above others." He closed his eyes, "If it's only one complaint we can still give him a warning but we already received three… one from the Junior High division, another from the Senior High and also one from a faculty member."

Tsuna sighed, "This is not the first time we dismiss problematic individual from their position, and it's simply not right to withdraw his dismissal because he is my brother's personal doctor."

Gokudera nodded in agreement, "We have our honor to uphold after all… but the most important thing of all…"

"That we have to uphold is…" Takeshi continued with a grin.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes, "The core principle of this school… _The Democracy of Youth, _student's importance is above everything else…" He recited, "Exception is not and never an option." He said with a tone of finality, levelling Shamal with determined eyes.

Shamal grinned, "Brat…" He paused, "On second thought Reborn… this one is not a brat at all." This man was not an imposing figure like The Ninth or charismatic airhead like his father. Shamal couldn't even put his finger on what Sawada Tsunayoshi was. "Fine I give up, you fired me or whatever… go ahead."

The door's knock echoed almost startled the occupant of the room, Tsuna opened the door revealing a teal haired boy. He was average in height for Japanese, fair skinned, with some sort of mystic air around him. "Sawada-kun…" He bowed respectfully.

Takeshi blinked at the newcomer, "Tsuya?" He groaned, "We have this completely under control." He assured him, "You don't have come, you know?"

Gokudera face-palmed, "You just have to let him have a piece of your mind, don't you?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at Tetsuya, "Fine… just make it quick and keep your temper in check. Kuroko-senpai…"

Tetsuya bowed again then strolled pass the student council and made his way to Shamal. The doctor blinked at him owlishly before the boy opened his mouth. "I am Kuroko Tetsuya, vice captain of Basketball club."

"_One of the basketball club member came to the infirmary two hours ago because he scrapped his knees. You refused to treat him because apparently… he lack of fe... of female… **the vice-captain** who filed up the complain was furious!"_

Shamal groaned, "So you come to bitch at me? I gave him a band-aid! What else do you want? And just you know your mighty Kaichou over there already fired me." The doctor's eyes widened when the stoic face turned furious, actually the boy was not even frowning or even moving a muscle on his face but the sheer pressure the boy emitted was enough to surprise a Mafioso like him.

"Your behavior as a doctor is unacceptable." Tetsuya said, his pale eyes ablaze with anger. "Please take your job seriously, you might think the student who came for scrapped knee as trivial matter but for an athlete like us it could affect our career." He stated calmly, eyes leveling Shamal with spine chilling glare.

"I don't know how much you know about this school and us as its students." He paused, "But you should know… every single student who becomes a member of a sport club is seriously aiming to become a pro. We are not kids who play the game just for fun."

Then he gave Shamal a curt nod, and didn't even bother to wait for a reply. He excused himself to Tsuna with a deep bow then closed the door with a click.

Reborn whistled, "Kuroko Tetsuya… huh?"

Tsuna eyed Reborn warily then he shook his head, "Well then, I will take my leave. I would like to stay longer but I have another matter I need to attend to." Not to mention staying there would help nothing. "Excuse us then." And with that the student council left the room with a polite bow.

* * *

><p>"…"<p>

"Who is that kid? And what's with that older son of Iemitsu?"

"Tsuna?" Reborn snorted, "Who knows, don't bother looking deeper into Sawada Tsunayoshi, Shamal." He waved his hand in negative gesture, "His record is clean, a model student, idol of the school. He is everything you won't expect from a son of that idiot Iemitsu…"

Shamal sighed; the tone Reborn used told Shamal to drop the issue. "And what of that Kuroko boy? It was just for a moment but I felt that that boy is a dangerous one…" He paused, "When he entered, he had no presence at all and if not for him being right in front of my eyes I would have thought he was a ghost, and the next moment he intimidated a veteran mafia doctor like me with sheer pressure of his aura."

Reborn's ears perked up at that, "Oh? I know that boy… or rather I know his clan."

"Huh? Is there any clan like that in mafia? Or yakuza?" Shamal wondered out loud.

"They're kind of distantly related to Vongola…" He explained as hopped on Natsu's bed, the boy was still sleeping.

Shamal raised an eyebrow, "Huh? But there are only two line of Vongola bloodline! Iemitsu's and the Ninth's!"

"Not to the Vongola boss idiot!" Reborn inwardly rolled his eyes, "It's Asari Ugetsu, the first rain guardian."

The doctor blinked, "So that Kuroko kid is his descendant or something?"

Reborn shook his head, "Asari Ugetsu before he became part of Vongola , his name is Takamura Ugetsu…." Reborn began as he crossed his short legs. "You didn't think his surname is really Asari (clam), do you?" Shamal rolled his eyes, it was indeed an unlikely coincidence that the rain guardian's surname just happen to be the same name as famiglia he belonged to.

"Anyway… Takamura clan, since the Bakumatsu era, is famed for their martial arts skill and loyalty to being bodyguards and vassals of important figures. There is one main family, and I heard the heir is guarding Imonoyama's youngest son. Their branch families are versatile in their own right too, one of it is Kuroko clan… " The hitman grinned, "I heard they are good in erasing their presence, they originally were assassins and spies… " Reborn finished with a smirk.

Shamal snorted, "I see, but that boy seems serious about being a basketball player instead of assassin or bodyguard from what I saw."

Reborn rolled his eyes, "Nah… who knows, but his core is definitely that of an assassin if he managed to intimidate you."

"You want him?" Shamal asked incredulously.

Reborn shook his head, "Not now, but let's see if Natsu can try." He paused, "His failure today make me realize… he is just a chick that still fresh out of egg and still chirping for worm from his mom." Shamal rolled his eyes at the parable. "It's sad that for now… he doesn't hold a candle to Tsunayoshi when it comes to leadership skill."

Shamal laughed at that, "Then why not choose that man instead? If you like Iemitsu's eldest so much, I am sure the ninth will listen to you."

The hitman gave Shamal such a murderous look that the doctor had to take a step back in fear, "Are you kidding me? Iemitsu begged the Ninth to take Tsunayoshi out of candidate list years ago the moment he chose Natsuhiko."

"…"

"I don't know if the ninth granted it or not. But…" He trailed off with an emotion Shamal would have perceived as cheerfulness, but when it comes to Reborn it was combination of irritation and amusement.

"That Tsuna would be a big failure as a mafia boss any day."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because Sawada Tsunayoshi would never fit in the dark world of mafia…" Reborn said with a conviction Shamal thought was reserved for the Ninth. His presence was simply untouchable by mafia world...

* * *

><p><strong>The next day <strong>

Natsu hadn't expected at lunch period, Spanner, who had not seen since his first day in school, would come to his class, leaning against the doorframe lazily as he beckoned Natsu to come over. Natsu was about to open his mouth when Spanner handed him a white card, "Student council invited you to their afternoon tea, so come with me Sawada…" And with that he turned around and started walking.

After he got over of his initial surprise Natsu rushed over to follow Spanner, no words were said on the way until Spanner led them to the luxurious cafeteria of Namimori gakuen. Natsu looked around but didn't see even a hide of council members he knew so he shot Spanner a questioning look.

"What?" Spanner returned with incredulous look, "You think your brother and his friends would eat here?" He shook his head and once again beckoned Natsu to follow him to one corner of the cafeteria, there was a lift that wouldn't be noticed at first glance because it somewhat blended in with the surrounding wall. Spanner pressed the button, shaking his head as he entered the lift with Natsu. "With those fangirls and fanboys they can't eat here, and beside… who want to eat when guarded heavily by those prefects?"

"Is that so?" Came Natsu's deadpan response, though he totally could see the point. "By the way, what is this card?"

"Limited access card to their dining room." Spanner answered as the lift stopped and a mechanical voice informed they were on fifth floor now. There was a white room with only a door and a sculpture in the middle but nothing else. Spanner pointed to a square device right beside the door, "Tap the card over this device, please mind that the door will open just for one person per card so you can't bring anyone over even if you want to."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?"

Spanner shrugged, "Safety precaution, Imonoyamas are weird you see? And by the way… even though I said one person, you can bring that baby on your head along I guess."

Natsu blinked then looked up, he screeched. "Since when you are on my head Reborn?" Not to mention he dressed in butler suit and his hair was combed neatly.

"I was on that sculpture." He said as looking over to the weird sculpture Natsu didn't pay any attention before; it was sculpture of lovers having a candlelight dinner with a butler played violin beside the table. Reborn was sitting on the butler's head before he hopped to Natsu's. "Your awareness is so pitiful." He commented with a mockingly sad tone.

"Reborn, get off me." Natsu commanded which of course was pointedly ignored by Reborn.

"Can you please go inside already?" Spanner asked in deadpan tone, "We don't have all day, you know?

* * *

><p>Their dining room or rather a terrace café was marvellous, even to Natsu who had seen the luxurious facility Vongola had, Imonoyama was no slouch in regards to luxury. Natsu was impressed they had such thing built in a school and for the student council use no less.<p>

"Shoichi…" Spanner walked lazily to the long table on the centre of the terrace. "I bring the guy you asked."

Natsu's left eye twitched, "I am not an object you know." The way Spanner put it sounded like he was some sort of mail order or something. When he came closer to the table Natsu could see student council members sitting on the chairs and some were leaning against the railing of the terrace, he noted there were three chairs that empty and the number of people occupying the terrace didn't add up to it.

He paid no mind to it as his eyes scanned each of them. The guy Spanner talked to was a red head with green eyes that covered by glasses. Just from the first sight Natsu could tell he was a typical genius guy who researched a lot, especially with that white coat he was wearing outside of his uniform. The Z class student, who was also second in command with Gokudera Hayato, was the leader of IT department of Namimori, Irie Shouichi.

Next to him was a younger boy, dressed in elementary school version of their uniform. The difference with Natsu's was the uniform for elementary had short pants and the colour was dark green and white. The boy had messy curly hair and green eyes that glared at him with ferocity. Natsu recognized the boy as the only elementary student in student council and his name was Ushima Lambo.

No one sat next on his other side but Natsu could guess the one who was supposed to sit there was the girl who leaned on the nearby terrace railing. She had long dark purplish hair styled in ponytail and purple eyes. Natsu fought off a blush that crawled to his cheeks as she peered at him curiously. She was wearing Namimori uniform but her jacket had a long skirt that divided to the back into tail, giving it a tailcoat like look. She also had a typical magician hat cradled in her arms like a baby. The leader of Event Management Committee, Katou Nagi, and a famed rising star in the junior magician world.

By her side were the girls that Natsu had met on his first day in Namimori, Miura Haru and Sasagawa Kyouko. They waved at him, which he returned back with a blush. The three of them were part of Event Management Committee, Katou Nagi, the talented and upcoming star in the junior magician world. She was also the leader of event management committee, the one who organized festivals and parties the school was famed for.

In Natsu's opinion they were really pretty. He was honestly jealous that his brother was working with these pretty girls in daily basis.

His eyes caught by an older student who approached Lambo, and he recognized him as older brother of Sasagawa Kyoko. The leader of Combat Sport Committee, and the captain of boxing club Sasagawa Ryohei. He had short white hair and physic that was noticeably more muscular than any man in vicinity. His Namimori uniform was worn sloppily and his fist bandaged neatly.

Natsu could see Hibari Kyouya in the corner, looking detached from the rest of student council. For some reason it seemed anyone who dared to step on his personal space was going to be bitten, he looked sullen somehow.

Reborn whistled from the top of Natsu's head, "All of them are here except your brother and his bodyguards." For some reason Reborn started to refer to Yamamoto and Gokudera as his brother's bodyguard. Then again Natsu could see why, in the morning they already waiting for his brother on the gate. They also the most frequent companion he spotted trailing behind his brother.

For a moment Natsu felt like an idiot, standing quite far away from the table without clue what to do next. Spanner chose in that moment to walk away and went back to the lift, much to his dismay. _He just dumped me here_! Natsu thought annoyed.

He almost jumped when he found a smiling Katou Nagi was just three feet away from him. "Hello Sawada-kun, I am Katou Nagi. Nice to meet you Mr. Nice guy…" She said as she patted his shoulder, winking at him playfully.

"Nice guy?" He flushed deep red, then yelped when he saw his jacket inflate like a balloon then doves, ribbons and confetti burst through every gap in his jacket. "Waa!"

"See? You hide such things inside your jacket…" She said in serene voice, unlike the bubbly personality he expected from a magician, Katou Nagi was composed and had a cool upbringing. "Full of surprise huh?"

Shouichi chuckled softly, "Nagi-chan…" He called her, "Don't tease Sawada-kun like that…"

She shrugged, "Since when am I one to tease?" She wondered out loud as moved away from Natsu who breathed out a sigh of relief.

He thought his heart was about to pop just now, as expected from one of the three reigning queens of Namimori Gakuen. Giving Katou Nagi a mental thumbs up and perfect score in charming department. He had heard enough about them from Mitsu; who was more than happy to share his fanboy knowledge about them. The three fairest girls in school, which had 80% of male population in academy head over heels for them.

Sasagawa Ryohei was the next who approached him, dark grey eyes looking at him curiously. "I am Sasagawa Ryohei! Nice to meet you Kaichou's brother! Want to join our boxing club?" He asked, grinning brightly.

Natsu mutely shook his head much to Ryohei's disappointment, "AWW! Come on!"

"Onii-chan!" Kyouko slapped his back playfully, "You shouldn't pressure someone like that!" She scolded the boxer sternly, "Hello, we meet again Sawada-kun. Ah! Aka-chan!" Her eyes sparkled at the sight of the cute baby.

"Oh you bring Aka-chan with you desu!" Haru exclaimed, "It's so nice to see you two again! Can I hug him?" Haru squealed as blushing red at the sight of Reborn on the top of Natsu's head.

Natsu shook his head, "You better not... "

Nagi clapped once, "Okay girls, don't make a fuss... you are going to scare Kaichou's brother."

Natsu gaped, "What?"

They turned to him with apologetic look then bowed, "We are sorry!"

"But!" He protested, who was scared to be approached by pretty girls with doe eyes? Nervous maybe but not scared!

"Girls, let make some tea and fetch the snacks from the cafeteria." Nagi said as she led the girls out of the terrace, girlish giggle accompanied their exit.

Reborn huffed, this girl was also something but rather than potential candidate Reborn was more concerned why they called Natsu out. Tsuna and his two bodyguards were nowhere in sight. These peoples couldn't be planning something bad for Natsu, could they?

At last the red haired teen gestured for Natsu to take a seat at the other end of the table. "Welcome, Sawada Natsuhiko. I am Irie Shouichi, the vice president of the Student Council..." The red haired teen introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you too, Irie-san..." He bowed a little.

Irie smiled at him, "The pleasure is mine... so how do you find our school, I hope your first few days here were enjoyable?"

_It was until yesterday, until your fellow vice-president kicked my butt in a fight_. Natsu thought grimly. "Ah yes..." He lied, it wouldn't do if he answered honestly. Tsuna would be so sad if his brother find the school he led was anything but enjoyable. Since he came back, Tsuna emitted this aura of a scholar who screamed _'School is fun!' _It's as if back in elementary the Tsuna who was dame and dead-last in anything but literature never exist.

"Are you interested in joining any club activity?" Irie asked again, fingers crossed on the table.

"Not really... but I heard it's compulsory." Natsu answered nonchalantly, ignoring Reborn who gulped down his share of tea elegantly.

Irie nodded, "Ah yes... if there's any club that catches your fancy please contact Takeshi or Ryohei-senpai, they're the one in charge for sport club."

Natsu quirked an eyebrow, "Why sport club? I might go for Robot Development club like yours." He asked sarcastically.

The vice-president smiled at that, "Your grade implied otherwise..."

The brunette blushed a deep red, "Is that so?"

He nodded with a smile still firmly in place, as if he never implied an insult to his word. "Our soccer club is pretty good even at a national level, I heard from Kaichou you are a good player."

Reborn paused from his drinking, he knew out of all members of student council the worse match Natsu could have was not Hibari Kyouya who was the most violent, but the most cunning of them all, Irie Shouichi, hailed as a genius who was on par with Imonoyama Nokoru and was also the vice president of Namimori student council. He looked like an ordinary genius who would spent the whole night in front of computer, but he had heard rumours that this boy was good at inventing weapons but stopped when military organizations all over the world start to fight over it.

The light chat continued for a while until Natsu hit the limit of his patience, which wasn't much mind you. "Cut the chase already Irie, what do you want? You can't just invite me here just to know your Kaichou's brother better."

Irie smiled at that, "Then... I would like to inquire about the behaviour you displayed yesterday. Walking around in your boxers is simply... indecent."

Natsu decided he disliked his brother's second vice president. This Irie Shouchi was a stuck-up elite.

"He's not stuck-up. Anyone _normal _would call walking around in your boxers indecent." Reborn pointed out. They called him out just for that? It was true on the way to infirmary Natsu being his usual idiot self was too beaten up to pick up his clothes, luckily Reborn had stored a couple of clean uniform in Shamal's office.

Natsu huffed, "Okay, I will be careful in the future in school…"

"Erm… it's not just in school but outside too." Shouichi informed him with a business smile, "After all it would be bad if one of our student and the brother of student council president to be arrested for such thing…"

"…"

"…"

Hibari who stood in the corner smirked, "Irie Shouichi… you are one dangerous man…"

Natsu growled, "What are you implying?"

Shouichi raised his hands in placating gesture, "Ah please don't misunderstood, you should understand we have a reputation to uphold after all…"

"My brother is not someone who care…" Natsu trailed off angrily.

"He has to." The red head cut him off.

Silence permeated the air until Natsu slammed his fist against the table, "What do you mean he has to? My brother is the president of student council of this school, and you are worried I will smear his reputation?"

"My…" Shouichi sneered, "It seems your tone implied for you, a president in this school is _just _a student who was given an authority to manage the school." He shook his head, "You are underestimating your brother a bit too much."

"Oh yeah?"

Shouichi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Your brother's future is so bright…"

"…"

"He is someone everyone would gladly give up their life to follow, he is the one we have given our everything to follow…" Shouichi said with a voice that full of authority.

Natsu felt his body pinned on the spot and he could hardly breath, where was this pressure coming from? Where the glasses wearing guy with that business guy go? This guy looked so harmless and now…

"So what do you want?" Natsu asked, trying to get his bearing together. "Why'd you call me out here?"

"Welll…" Shouichi trailed off, "It's just a warning…"

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Convention Hall<strong>

"I still can't believe this!" Mitsu sputtered as looking up at the three taller figures before him, "For Kaichou to come personally to cheer me on for this junior inventor competition!"

Tsuna smiled as he patted the nervous boy's shoulder, "You are the one chosen to represent our school for this competition, since Shouichi couldn't make it and I have time… here I am."

Hayato coughed, "You make time for it you mean, Kaichou?"

"Ha ha ha…" Tsuna sweat-dropped.

Mitsu blushed a deep red, "I will win this for sure! Watch me Kaichou! My presentation will surely impress the judge!" And with that the excited boy sprinted to the stage when his name was called.

Hayato's left eyebrow twitched, "Just a few minutes ago he looked ready to faint and now he is boasting about winning." He shook his head, "Kaichou is really good at cheering people on."

"Ha ha ha… that's Tsuna-kaichou for you!"

Tsuna shook his head, "I didn't do anything… "

Takeshi nodded, "Yeah, just a little push was what he needed."

"At any rate, is there some reason you guys need me to be out of school at this hour?" Tsuna asked casually.

"…"

"…"

Takeshi and Hayato sighed, he was so sharp. "We just…"

"You don't have to tell me." Tsuna stopped them, "I always trust you, and I know you guys only want the best for me… it would be so ungrateful if I doubt you with asking." Not to mention he could guess what they were doing, probably warning Natsu to keep himself out of harmful way for Tsuna. "No matter what I won't give you guys up to anyone else... not even to my brother..."

"…"

"…"

Both of them flushed a deep red to the tip of their ears then sprinted to the neared cold wall and pressed their foreheads against it, they were silent until Takeshi decided to speak. "Oi Tsuna, how many times we told you that… saying something like that with straight face is really… _really_ not good for our heart?"

"Really?" Tsuna wondered out loud innocently.

"Are you trying to kill us Kaichou?" Hayato wailed as he pressed his steaming face on the wall.

Tsuna just chuckled cheerfully in response, and that didn't help Hayato or Takeshi at all because the blush was back in full force to their cheek.

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Gakuen<strong>

Natsu stomped angrily through the corridor, a gloomy cloud raining upon him. Reborn followed him closely, none of them willing to break the silence. At last Natsu opened his mouth, "Oi Reborn…"

"Hn?"

"I think I found one more reason why Tsuna wasn't chosen as Vongola Decimo candidate…" He said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Reborn paused at that, then he spoke. "Oh really? Why then?"

"It's not because he was sickly…" He looked much healthier now.

"It's not because he was weak…" He was always much stronger on the inside, more than anyone.

"It's not because he is no good." He only need to try to be better, and look where he had gotten to today.

Reborn smirked, "Why then…"

"He belong to different world…" Natsu said forlornly.

"… You are right." Reborn agreed, his fedora shadowing his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Kaichou! I did it!" Mitsu said after he finished his presentation, a file clutched on his arms as jumping up and down like a hyper child.<p>

Takeshi and Hayato were not around since they went to buy drinks.

The judge was impressed at Mitsu's invention, a fridge with gel to cool down the ingredients. Tsuna was sure even if it won't get a gold medal the invention surely would snatch the eco-friendly award at least. "Well done…" He said as patting the boy on the shoulder again then his eyes narrowed. "By the way… to see you acting like that is really creepy."

"Eh?" Mitsu's eyes widened and the boy stopped jumping. "Kaichou?"

"**Mukuro…"**

"Since when you know?" The voice became deeper and carried sinister edge on it. "I thought I masked my red eye nicely…"

Tsuna sighed, "Since the start… could you please stop possessing this boy?"

"This is the only vessel I have in Namimori… and you won't let me to have another in this town." Mukuro pointed out with a sneer. "How you suppose I send my message to you?"

"… Ever heard of cell phone? Or email?" Tsuna asked wryly, "Shouichi can secure a line so it's safe."

"And miss the chance to meet you in person and teasing my _friends_ while I'm at it?" Mukuro asked with a sneer.

"I guess not." Tsuna rolled his eyes, "Then tell me… what is _Vindice _up to lately?"

"Well…"

* * *

><p>"<strong>You shouldn't get in your brother's way… Sawada Natsuhiko…"<strong>

Natsu was determined to ignore Shouichi's words but it opened the old wound he thought had been healed.

"**You shouldn't hinder your father."**

"**DAMN IT!"**

Reborn watched the boy vent his frustration on the wall and wondered if coming back to this town was a wise decision at all…

"One thing after another… "

* * *

><p><strong>Okay... I hope I give enough Mukuro dose for you. BTW I am not sure but there is a maybe that in three chapter or less 'Past' would be concluded~ and we will move on to the story with only future. ^^ <strong>

**I would have include who ask these question... but skimming through my review page, I kind of lost who is who so... please sue me for that!**

**Ask Tsuna-Kaichou! Corner~ **

**Q: **What about Mukuro, when he will appear? Will he become one of student in Namimori?

"Mukuro made a brief appearance in this chapter, as you see... he is talking to me in the near end of this chapter. He is not a student however... we can't have him to terrorize the school after all. As for when he will appear again, maybe it will take a long while since I want to keep a low profile when Reborn is around. I can't wait to see him again when I was ten, oops! Hayato will freak out if he heard that ha ha ha..."

**Q:**What did you mean by 'The past quote refer to Tsuna of this world's resolve to not repeat what his alternate self and Primo did.'

"Obviously I won't be part of mafia or starting a crime organization... I want to shape my own future regardless what my alternate self or ancestor did."

**Q: **Will Light or L make some appearance here?

"Authoress do make a cameo with naming Imonoyama's driver Watari, so... who knows if she will? By the way on the next grand council meeting in Clamp School maybe I will." *wink*

**Q:** Cousins? Whose cousin? Do you meant Akashi and Takeshi, or Akashi and Kuroko?

"Akashi-senpai, Kuroko-senpai and Takeshi are cousins. But as Reborn explained to Shamal, they are very distantly related but still cousins... Takeshi called them Tsuya and Sei. He said it's a tradition to call family member your age with nickname in their clan... they call him Take-kun."

**Q: **Is Hibari in the student council too?

"All leaders of committee are part of student council in Namimori Gakuen, unlike in Clamp Gakuen where council only consist of President, Secretary and Treasurer. Ha ha ha... but in my council, in spite of titled Vice-president Shouichi is my secretary actually while Hayato who is an expert in math is out treasurer."

**Q: **And yaoi for Tsuna ?

"Ugh... please don't. I see my friends as family... and I don't swing that way in this universe at least."

**Q: **Can Tsuna HDWM without the pills and the bullet?

"You will find out later... but you have seen me utilizing my flame without help of either."

**Q: **Is the 10 Student Councils in concern were Tsuna7 Guardians plus Kyoko and Haru?

"Yes... but it's including Shouichi as well..."

**Q: **How about Byakuran's fate? Alive or Dead?

"Hm... authoress would like to keep that a secret for now. My apologies for that..."

**Q: **BTW did Natsu come from the lion Natsu? Why choose that name, just curious?

"Authoress has shamelessly admit she is just switching my name around like how Natsu, the lion my alternate self has was named. Natsu's long name... Natsuhiko is by pure coincidence means child of bright summer. And the authoress had take it for granted to title second chapter according to that... -.-' ha ha ha"

**Q: H**ow come tsuna's eyes are golden? I thought it was chocolate brown?

"I think you shouldn't be concerned too much about my eyes ha ha ha... the authoress herself depict it as gold most of the time just because she thinks it cooler that way."

**Q: **Can I know will there be other OC exclude form Natsushiko ?

"Well our dear Authoress probably will avoid use of OC as much as she could and stick to importing character from other series, she is too lazy to create an OC like my brother. If I may quote her, '_It's too troublesome to create likeable and bearable OC like Natsu! Avoiding Sue's characteristic is hard!' _Or so she thought."

**Q: **I don't get the thing about the birds though... cause it wasn't explained or did I miss the explanation? (refer to chapter 2)

"We have a flock of of Hibird's species in our school and I didn't hide the fact we use them for security in school from Reborn. I more or less informed them about security system of ours on him and Natsu so they should be more careful in school."

**Q: **Also, does Tsuna miss having Reborn as a tutor (as in the times without the torture)?

*Laugh* "I am not a masochist so I definitely not missing the torture, as for Reborn... I am not sure. But what I know of him is from the eyes of my parallel self, he is a very important figure to my parallel self and I can't help but affected... so I kind of miss him I guess."

**Q: **What if my question is not in this corner, why is that?

"I didn't ignore you." *smile* "If I didn't answer your question in this corner means, it's already answered in the last five chapters but sometimes I will answer if that the case just to make sure. Or your question is going to be a spoiler of this story..."

"Feel free to ask more, my office would be always open for you... Bye bye..." Tsuna waved to you charmingly.

* * *

><p><strong>Sigh... you guys really know how to urge me to write more, seriously this is the longest AN ever in history of mine as authoress... But then again I shouldn't neglect this! So here it is... introduction of character from non-KHR series that appear in this story so far:**

**Nokoru Imonoyama and Headmaster are from Clamp School Detectives by Clamp  
><strong>Nokoru is the youngest son of Imonoyama family and the son of headmaster (Reika, in canon her name is Rarika) He is smart and a ladies man, he also the kaichou of elementary division in Clamp Gakuen. His secretary is Takamura Suoh and the treasurer is Ijyuuin Akira.

**Kuroko Tetsuya and Akashi Seijuro are from Kuroko no Basket by Tadatoshi  
><strong>Kuroko Tetsuya is a basketball player with weak presence that people tend to not aware of him, he is depicted as kind and straight forward person. In this story he is the vice-captain of basketball club of Namimori Gakuen, and also cousin of Yamamoto which mean he is related to Asari Ugetsu as well.  
>Akashi Seijuro is the feared captain of basketball team with heterochromatic eyes, not much known about him but he is depicted as calculating and dominating persona. He is cousin of Yamamoto like Kuroko. He sometimes crashed on chess, go, and shogi club just to trash them. <strong><br>**

**Tsuruga the gardener couple are cameo of Skip Beat.  
>Watari the driver is L's butler from Death Note<br>**

**Innocenti Sani and his sister Ottaviarina are from Toriko  
><strong>Sani from Toriko is a big guy with colorful hair, he value beauty over everything else... Innocenti is known as the weapon maker who is the most aesthetic in his work. He is a good cook, a scientist and inventor, also a beauty specialist.  
>Rin is Sani's sister, a tomboy with messy dark hair and a beast tamer. <strong><br>Hishigi-sensei in first chapter is from Samurai Deeper Kyo  
>Yamada Tarou are from Yamada Tarou monogatari manga ^^ <strong>

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><p>Review Please!<br>Write down the review please!

Fill it up!  
>R<br>R  
>R<br>R  
>R<br>R  
>RRRRRRR<br>RRRRR  
>RRR<br>RR  
>R<p> 


	6. 5th Axis

**I am tired of reading critiques which some I am sure is good and some just demand... I am not going to write my story the right or good way to suit someone's cup of tea. I am open for critique and made effort to acknowledge each of it doesn't mean I will give in to everyone's demand. I value good critiques but I won't give a shit to whining that my story didn't go the way they like...  
><strong>

**I have been looking for a song that fit this story and of all songs... I find 'Borderland' by Mami Kawada fit so nicely I XDDD So I listening to this song when I write this story. And before anyone complain again for late update... I rewrite this 3 times, a 17K story damn it!  
>This is worth two or even three chapters...<br>**

**PS: I draw a cover at last but it's unfinished Xd hopefully I have time to finish coloring it instead of slapping orange everywhere LOL  
><strong>

**26-01-13 update: I change some part but nothing major.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>PAST: The Mist of Doubt (part 1)<br>**

**"No Matter How Gifted you are... You_ alone_ cannot Change the World"****  
><strong>"L" (Death Note)<strong>**

Tsuna always thought his father was a hero when he was but a five years old, then again which little boy wouldn't when his mother worshiped the very ground her husband walked in like Sawada Nana did. His father was strong and muscular, unlike his friend's father who wore suit and going to office everyday. He could lift both Tsuna and Natsu with one hand, letting them to play with him like dwarfs wandering around giant's body.

Even if he's rarely around, Nana always entertained them with story of Iemitsu wandering around the world to save the day. His father was never anything but a perfect picture of a hero.

Until one day…

He woke up in the middle of the night because of thirst, and he caught sight his mother crying in dining room in front of already cold dinner. It was their anniversary day, and father promised to come home. He apparently couldn't make it.

That was the first shattered piece of his perfect world.

Iemitsu did go home three days after that, he came with huge flower bouquet and a box of chocolate as apology for his precious wife. Nana and Natsu were overjoyed but Tsuna couldn't bring himself to feel the same. The image of his crying mother had been burned to his mind.

A hero shouldn't make his princess cry thus his father was no longer a hero. His simple childish mind concluded.

When he thought of it again Tsuna couldn't help but imprinted the feeling of betrayal on his mind, the first bitter taste of reality he could barely comprehend in young age. And since then he vowed to do anything in his power to make it right, correct the wrong of his crumbling fairy tale world.

When the memory of his alternate self came to him, all he was thinking was how many wrong and right that world was. He learned the world couldn't be as perfect as a story in book but bitter truth was always the hardest to swallow. He wanted it to be right, and what's wrong with that?

"Wrong." Innocenti said as he scribbled furiously on his paper, "Tsunayoshi-kun, you claimed you have no adventurous sense, unlike your father and brother…" The scientist said with a flick of his pen, "But here you admit you have heroic symptom."

"… But I think everyone's conscience work that way?" Tsuna pointed out weakly, lying down on the coach of Innocenti's study room for one of their counseling session.

Innocenti pulled a grimace, "If that's the case there would be no war and prison would be empty." He paused, "On second thought crime would never exist!"

"…"

The rainbow haired man sighed at the look Tsuna gave at him, "Now boy, this kind of thinking is going to ruin you." He began solemnly, "There is no such thing like perfect hero in reality, and if there is they would have been dead in young age for the sake of being that perfect hero."

"…"

"All you need to do is do your best to stay out of trouble Tsunayoshi-kun." Innocenti chided the brunette boy sternly, "You and your friends… especially Hayato and that homicidal Hibari boy." He added.

What's wrong with wishing everything to be right? His young mind couldn't comprehend how a right thing could be wrong to an adult like Innocenti.

**"Don't let the knowledge of parallel world get into your head Tsuna-kun. You have your limits. And acknowledging your limits is also a strength, one you have yet to comprehend." **

Why would he? Tsuna knew in spite of the knowledge he possessed there were things he couldn't change no matter what. He knew his limit! He knew he was just a kid!

Tsuna never thought that one line would haunt him for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>That morning Yamamoto came to school with a bigger grin than usual much to Hayato's annoyance. He didn't stop smiling as he presented five colorful tickets on Tsuna's table which quickly gained attention form the rest of his friends. It were tickets Tsuyoshi got from his friends, their family suddenly had an urgent business in Akita. Five tickets to Phantasma Circus, their ticket was already sold out the moment they stepped to Namimori.<p>

Even Hana was interested to come, because it was not usual boring trip to zoo to see monkeys, as Hana put it. "At least the animals would be doing something interesting instead of eating and sleeping." Hana said coolly as she reread the copy of Tsuna's science note. Tsuna's note was always pleasant to read and she copied his even though she had hers.

"Uhm!" Kyouko agreed with a giggle, though to her it won't matter as long as they're cute. "What do you think Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna looked up from the book he was reading, which made him the center of attention of his classmates because it was thick and big thus looked pretty comical on his small lap. "I am looking forward to it Kyoko-chan."

Hana rolled her eyes, "Sure… would it kill you to sound a bit more excited about it?" She asked out loud, and Tsuna was about to respond but she cut him off. "Forget it… our little professor is more interested in holing himself up in library instead of watching hippo in a skirt."

Tsuna smiled sheepishly at that, he had been called professor since his grade improved. His classmates started paying attention to him and always spotted thick book on his person. He didn't choose to read thick book and it was heavy to boot but every topic he wanted to read happened to be written in a thick book most of the time and he was just that petite to make the book look bigger than it was.

"As if Tsuna want to see hippo in a skirt!" Hayato scoffed, he had getting used to call Tsuna with his given name but in private he called the boy as boss much to Tsuna's chagrin."Or anyone for that matter… beside I doubt nowadays anyone would find that fascinating!"

"It's hilarious!" Yamamoto piped up.

The grey haired teen rolled his eyes, "Your sense of humor so… don't count!"

"Why?" Yamamoto Takeshi asked innocently.

Hayato snorted, "If you find Izuki's lame pun funny I think there is nothing to say about your sense of humor Takeshi…"

Takeshi grinned at that, "Well… what do you know? I thought you said you have no sense of humor?"

"Why you!" He growled angrily.

Hana rolled his eyes, "Oi Tsuna, stop your bodyguards before they get into another pointless argument."

"They are not my bodyguards, they're my friends." Tsuna said while in the background the argument had escalated to the best comedy show they had ever watch which hardly justify their sense of humor in Tsuna's opinion. "And while the argument is pointless they are having fun, what's the harm of letting them?" Tsuna wondered innocently, "That's a proof they are friends."

"What's the harm?" Hana snorted, "For one, it's getting on my nerves."

Tsuna smiled at that, it was a warning that she would throw a tantrum if the two boys didn't stop soon. "Hayato, Takeshi! What would you like to see in the circus? I can't wait to see the trapeze."

As one both of them stopped arguing then answered enthusiastically. "Clowns!" Takeshi chirped.

"I want to trapeze too!" Hayato added hastily.

"I know bodyguard is a fancy term of pet…" Hana muttered playfully.

**"Hana-chan!"** Kyouko and Tsuna were scandalized, while Hayato and Takeshi… much to Tsuna's chagrin, they didn't deny a thing. Probably because Takeshi was too oblivious and Hayato… let's not elaborate that.

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Square<strong>

Circus they visited was like any other typical circus, it was held in a big circular tent with a lot of caravans parked around it. The tent was colored in orange, red and blue. Tsuna gazed at it in awe; he never saw a tent as big as this one. His gaping mouth closed as he blushed a deep red, when one of the clowns came over and offered a candy to him. He accepted the treat shyly and muttered a small thank you as his friends laughed at him, while Hayato fumed at them for laughing.

The laughter ceased when Kyouko curiously looked at the clown that gave them candy, the clown was approaching another group of children with a basket of sweets. "Their face is so white! The looks really funny but that one clown is so pretty!" She gushed out as flushed a deep red.

Hana raised en eyebrow, "I fail to see how a clown can be pretty."

The clown Kyouko was referring at was indeed stood out even in a group of bring colored dressed clowns. He dressed in red and orange with frilly collar, juggling balls gracefully with a basket of sweets on his arm. The make up on his face was thick with red nose, his eyes and lips were outlined with deep red, but even so they could tell the person beneath the thick clown make-up was beautiful.

"A whiteface clown…" Tsuna said with awe, "It's the first time I see one closely."

* * *

><p>The inside of the tent was massive, somehow it felt bigger than what they saw from outside. Tsuna and co sat in the first row, which in their opinion was not the best seats but not the worse either since any entertainment that taking place on the ground could be seen up close. They would have a neck pain to watch trapeze later though.<p>

Takeshi was really fascinated by the sea lion that displayed its juggling skill and wondered if they can play as a pitcher. Hayato grumbled that the baseball idiot's imagination was getting too high. While the rest of them laughed at the snide comment Hayato made at Takeshi.

The show went smoothly until the tiger show started, and one of the tigers knocked over the ring of fire. The tamer was of course not pleased especially since the ringmaster quickly cut the show short and ushered the tamer and his tigers back to the backstage. The tiger show was quickly forgotten when the trapeze took their breath away with skillful acrobat in the air.

At last the show reached its peak and the ringleader that dressed in suit stood in the middle of the ring and announced their main show would begin soon enough. The children of course was excited to see the show the ring leader claimed more interesting than one they had watched. For a few moments nothing happened when the spotlight darted to every random direction till it centered on a small circular stage in the middle of the ring. A black box with question mark was on top of it, which they recalled was not there before. It might be placed there when they were distracted by the myriad colors of spotlight. The group of clown was surrounding the stage as their arms opened as if presenting something to the audience.

Suddenly the black box busted open, smoke, confetti, ribbons, flowed and doves flew out of the box. The audience broke to a round of applause when a girl dressed in magician suits hopped off of the box, smiling charmingly to her spectators.

**"IT'S SHOW TIME!"**

Tsuna, Takeshi and Hayato's eyes widened when their eyes locked on hers, and the twin purple orbs widened in recognition.

**"Chrome?" **

The girl looked distracted for a moment before she caught herself then placed her hand on the waiting hand of the whiteface clown. The girl they recognized as Chrome was indeed looked like the eye-patched girl they knew from their parallel world dream. She had deep purple eyes, pale skin and dark hair with purple sheen. She was dressed in typical tailcoat and white undershirt but instead of pants she wore a purple leotard.

Tsuna watched Chrome pulled out a long string of colorful flags out of the whiteface's ear then made his stuffed stomach burst and doves flew away out of his clothes. The clown then ran around in circle as covering his face as an expression of embarrassment.

The magician girl giggled at the whiteface then turned to other clowns that were preparing her next trick. The whiteface had returned to her side and this time was walking on top of a very big ball. She was about to tap her hat with stick but froze when a roar echoed through the ring.

Three tigers, one male and two female entered the ring as roaring at the audience. No one react and thought it was part of the show until one of the tigers charged to the fences that separated the seats and the ring. Realization dawned on the audience, the tamer was nowhere in sight and the lions had escaped.

It was an instant pandemonium as the audience screamed in horror and rushed to escape. Hana being the sensible girl calmed panicked Kyouko down, none of them moved while the rest of audience ran as fast as they could.

Hana gritted her teeth, "The fence is high enough! They wont reach here but…" Not to mention the tigers were focusing their attention to something else. "The girl and that clown are still there!"

Tsuna's eyes widened when he saw the state of the ring, the other clowns had escaped and only Chrome and the whiteface left there. The whiteface was hugging trembling Chrome on his hands as if trying to shield the girl from hungry eyes of the predators. The girl looked too scared to move and her face was as pale as sheet. Tsuna was about to yell at the clown to bring her out of there. He closed his mouth when he saw the whiteface was limping. It seemed the first roar startled the clown; he fell from his ball and sprained his leg.

"Hana-chan, bring Kyouko-chan out of here!" Hana would have protested why they would left the boys behind but looking at Kyouko who was trembling and hugging her close it would be best to do what Tsuna said.

"Fine! Come Kyouko!" Hana said as she hoisted the frightened girl up then went to the exit after she spare one last glance at the brunette.

The brunette saw the ringmaster on the corner of his eyes, the ringmaster was a plump man in his late forties and dressed in suit. He was shouting at the whiteface. "Allen! Get the hell out of there, you idiot!"

Tsuna gritted his teeth, can't the ringleader see that clown was injured?! And where's the tamer? Or their security staffs?! "Mister! Where's your security staff! Do something!"

"Ah… Uh…" The ringmaster stuttered, "They are on the way!"

As if on cue three men armed with sniper riffle came running toward the ring, ready to shot the enraged tigers. Much to their shock the lions quickly turned their attention to the staff and pounced at them. Two of the tigers scratched the their arms, and they dropped the riffle and clutching their bloody arm while their friend was engaged in a tug of war with the male tiger over his riffle. The staffs were caught off guard, especially because trained beast they had usually was submissive. They usually won't dare to attack an armed human but for some reason the tigers were more vicious than usual. The third man at last managed to pry his riffle off of the tiger's teeth then he shot the tiger before it could pounce again. The tiger he shot fell on the ground unconscious, and he quickly aimed for the next tiger, which also fell as soon as the tranquilizer hit its body.

He moved on to help his other friend but the shot miss, and the tiger changed its target to him. Faster than he could react the tiger pounced and scratched his face, and he screamed in pain.

"ARGH!"

Irrationality thrown out of the window they fled and dropped their weapon, fortunately for them the feline had no interest to chase after them. They turned their attention to the magician girl and the clown. Chrome had recovered from her shock and was struggling to help her clown friend to escape. The only way to backstage however was blocked by the feline while the door to audience's seat was locked. Chrome dragged the whiteface clown to the door, and the lone tiger was approaching fast.

Tsuna gritted his teeth, "Where's the key mister! Give it to them!"

"Ah right! Nagi-chan! Hang in there!" The ringleader shouted in horror, he rummaged through his pocket in panic as fished out three rings of keys. "Uh... ugh... I left it in my office!" He shouted in horror again.

Hayato snapped, "Useless old man!" He would have chucked dynamites to the ring but looking at the close proximity of Nagi and the clown were with the tiger that would be the worse idea to do.

Takeshi looked at his hand which were empty, "This is bad…" The dark haired boy was weaponless, Hayato scoffed at him. What a good day to leave his weapon at home.

Gokudera pulled one stick of dynamite, the small one that barely longer than his forefinger. "Oh, we can use this..." He murmured thoughtfully, "Tsuna, we can..."

"Chrome!" Tsuna took off his outer white shirt off then before any of his friends could react he had jumped to the ring.

"TSUNA!" Gokudera and Takeshi screamed in horror.

* * *

><p>Nagi grabbed the lock and tried to pick it with a pin of her toe ribbon, she was decent in escape trick but at this situation where panic was doubled she couldn't think clearly. "Nagi-chan! Just leave me and run away!" The clown said weakly.<p>

"I won't leave Allen-san here!" She said as clutching the lock tighter, her mind already blank and she couldn't recall clearly how to do it.

"Foolish girl…" He hissed in desperate voice.

"ROAR!"

The tiger was already near, Nagi let go of the lock and backed away as hugging the clown tightly on her arms. Tears pooled on the corner of her eyes as the tiger licked its lips.

ROAR!

She pried one eye open when she heard a pained roar coming from the wild beast, all she could see was blur image of the beast roaring and moving wildly to pry something off of its back. Nagi gasped when he saw a brown haired boy on top of the tiger's back and desperately clung on the scruff of the beast's neck. Tsuna had his outer shirt taken off and was trying to tie the beast mouth's eyes and mouth. Nagi let out a silent scream when the tiger jumping wildly in hope to throw Tsuna off of its back. Tsuna almost hold his hold but he managed to tie the sleeve of his short over its mouth. Tsuna was well aware it was a stupid idea to apply taming method for crocodile he saw once in discovery channel, not to mention the target was not a slow crocodile. It was a big cat with powerful jaw and very... very angry at him.

Tsuna knew it was too late to back down from this stupidity, he had to finish this or risk to be killed for real. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Hayato and Takeshi also had jumped to the ring and running to his direction. He was scared the tiger would be angrier and attacked them but ironically his friends' entrance made the tiger turned to see the newcomer and temporarily forget about him. Tsuna did everything on impulse and before he knew it, his hands had moved to tightened the bind and covered the feline's eyes. The tiger once again reminded it still had an unwanted rider on its back and found its sight covered and its jaw was locked. The tiger did what its instinct told it to do, jumped then flipped its body, had it not for Tsuna released his hold in time he would be crushed under a tiger that at least weighted around six to seven times his weight.

His body roughly thrown to the mid-air, Hayato and Takeshi ran to Tsuna, unfortunately not fast enough to cushion his fall like they intended as the boy's small body collided with the ground to their horror. "Ouch..." Tsuna groaned in pain. "Ugh..."

Tsuna's eyes were blurry because blood dripped to his eyes. He tried to shake off the pounding on his ears, he almost thought he was dreaming when he saw Hayato was shaking him and crying. Takeshi was crying too and they were calling him names. "Stupid Tsuna! Why you did such dangerous thing?! Stupid! Idiot!" His face felt wet, something warm was soaking his face and it's not his blood. Did he make them cry? Like that man did his mother?

The last thing he heard before everything went dark was a sound of gunshot, it reminded him a lot of Reborn.

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Hospital <strong>

His head was pounding and whatever he did before going to sleep, it was not pleasant and definitely stupid enough for the Hayato of all people screaming at him. The moment he regained his consciousness, the first thing he noticed other than merciless pounding on his head was unpleasant smell of antiseptic. He had yet organized his mind so he had somewhat forgot what made him landed in hospital in the first place. Whatever it was, he could recall that later and hoped he didn't screw up too much. Tsuna braced himself when he pry open one of his eyes, before him was something monstrous looming over his bed with colorful locks dancing in the air wildly like tentacles. **  
><strong>

It took him full three seconds to stop himself from screaming and recognized the monster as the very irate Professor Innocenti. "Ugh... " His throat was hoarse so he croaked, "Professor? Err... is everything..." He gulped, even swallowing felt painful. What the hell he had gotten himself in to, that warrant the normally gentle scientist to emit such a terrifying aura? "All right?" He finished.

Innocenti smiled, a 'you're so screwed' kind of smile he usually wore when Hayato or Lambo exploded something in his mansion. "Isn't it fortunate you're ten years old thus I shall refrain from cursing in every profanities I could think of on the top of my head." That meant at least cursing and swearing in nine languages, from Italian, Esperanto, Chinese, Swahili, Hindi, Spanish, English, French and Japanese.

Tsuna gulped again, almost choked on his own saliva when he felt the pain when swallowing. He coughed violently, and Innocenti quickly handed him a glass of water. Tsuna drank the water slowly then sighed in relieve as the pain on his throat subsided, "Aah..." Tsuna took a deep breath and at last noticed his surrounding. Someone was sleeping by his bedside with her arms folded as pillow, Tsuna's breath hitched when he saw his mother sleeping soundly. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were wet. "I..."

Innocenti sighed then turned to the side, where on a coach Hayato and Takeshi were sleeping. Their eyes were swollen too and sleeping soundly like his mother. "I have to say... facing a tiger is so not on the list of what a ten years old should do." Innocenti began, "And what you did is really stupid Tsuna."

Then Innocenti went on explaining what happened after he lost consciousness, how the stupid pudgy ringmaster found his gun somewhere on his coat and shot the tiger. Then after they moved Tsuna to hospital the police investigate the cause of the tigers suddenly running wild. Apparently the tamers used the money circus gave him for his tiger's food for gambling, that's why the performance of the tigers were horrible that day because of hunger. Driven by hunger and terrible treatment of its tamer, the tigers took their chance when their tamers was going to punish them for the performance. The tamer of the tiger was found dead after the incident.

The boy was about to open his mouth but the scientist cut him off, "Yes! You saved that girl and her clown friend but my point is... you did something stupid and there's nothing you could do to remedy that Dame Tsuna!"

The boy flinched, he hadn't heard that nickname for a long while and Innocenti used it to snap some sense into him. "Professor... I..."

"Do you know who you hurt the most with your recklessness?" Innocenti asked testily.

Tsuna shook his head, he knew who was hurt because of him but should he knew who was pained the most? He was guilty enough without knowing that. "I don't..."

The scientist sighed, "It's Hayato... Tsunayoshi-kun."

"!"

Innocenti crossed his arms, "Hayato... you know he had explosive with him all the time right?"

"But that time..." Tsuna protested.

"Yes, it's dangerous to attack the tiger with dynamites with that girl and clown so close with it however..." Innocenti trailed off, "You can draw its attention away from them with explosion and they will have plenty of time to escape."

"..." Tsuna flushed a deep red.

"But what I want you to know is that..." Innocenti trailed off, "You're never alone Tsunayoshi... they're there for you and yet you bear all burden by yourself..."

Tsuna looked down in shame, "I am sorry..."

"Apologize to them not me." Innocenti corrected, "You know how Hayato and Takeshi are..." It was an unspoken, you're hurting them with not relying on them.

"Yes..." Tsuna muttered sadly.

Innocenti stood up with a sigh, "I am going to buy food and refreshment, I am sure they'll be hungry later..."

"Thank you professor." Tsuna looked up timidly, only to find the scientist was still frowning at him. "Professor?"

He took a deep sigh, "Nothing... by the way, be thankful that I asked Rin to stay at home with Lambo, that nephew of mine will freak if he saw your head."

Tsuna cringed, "Ah yes..."

* * *

><p><strong>Phantasma Circus Tent<strong>

Pained groan and grit of teeth echoed through the dim lighted backstage, accompanied by sorrowful plead of hoarse voice of a girl. The ringmaster still dressed in suit was whipping a young man who was curled in fetal position on the ground. The young man's shoulder was marred with ugly scar of whip mark. Pained groan erupted from his throat when one of the muscular trapeze artist kicked his stomach, and the young man had to rolled back with his back on the ground.

"Please! Forgive him!" The dark haired girl begged desperately as her small body curled up in petal position in hope to shield larger body of her friend. "He is already very sick, so please..."

Her hands was a bit red from being hit by whip but nothing worse than her companion, the ringmaster was about to raise his whip again but folded the leather weapon neatly then tucked it under his arms. "I can't hurt you too much on visible area such as hands... Nagi-chan's body is very precious for your magic show after all..."

Nagi sniffed, "Yes ringmaster... I will work harder so please spare Allen-san..." She muttered in trembling voice.

He snorted, "Well... if keeping your useless friend will make you behave, why not?"

"Sir, she has not spill anything about that!" One of the Auguste clown pointed out, "We keep her because of that!" The clown reminded the ringmaster.

He snorted, "I know that! But well... it seems she really didn't remember about that phantom document." Nagi yelped when the ringmaster roughly grabber her delicate chin, forced her to look up with fearful eyes to him. "But one way or another... she will recall about her daddy's precious document." He said as roughly threw her to the ground and collided with unconscious whiteface clown. "Ah and one more thing girl... be thankful that tomorrow afternoon we will visit your little savior, it won't be good for our reputation if we don't." He growled, "Just show one or two tricks to made your savior happy and feel rewarded for his bravery." It would save their face too.

Nagi nodded slowly as her face just inches from the ringmaster's, "Yes... "

He sneered, "Good girl."

And with that the ringleader left the backstage, then one by one the circus member left Nagi and her clown friend alone. Nagi hugged her only friend inn circus close, tears soaking her cheeks. "I am so sorry... so sorry... I can't protect you..."

Tomorrow, she thought with renewed hope. "I will see boss tomorrow... he will help us, I promise..." It was a faint hope from unexplained dream she had since few month ago, It was a very happy dream to her because in that dream she had friends, she could protect them and vice versa. Unlike the reality where she could do nothing but beg and beg without able to fight back for her friends. It was a hope she desperately clung onto when she was so close to break down under this pain.

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Hospital<strong>

Light concussion, the doctor said, which explained so much about his pounding head. After his friend and mother wake up at delicious smell of food Innocenti brought they had fret over every single bruise he had, especially the wrapping on his head that made him partially mummified. Tsuna thought he should be happy to get so much attention from his precious family but for some reason there was a numb pain on his heart that suffocate him every time he saw Takeshi or Hayato smiling at him.

For some reason he felt he didn't deserve them.

That night after everyone fell asleep in spare bed and couch the hospital lend them Tsuna wake up then quietly went to the rooftop of the hospital. The chilly air feel fresh unlike the air conditioned room he occupied. Much to his surprise that night the weather was misty, which pretty unusual considering the season. Tsuna could barely see the scenery of Namimori Town from here because of the weather. Speaking of mist, they had found Chrome... but she was in a group of traveling circus which will be gone a day after tomorrow. It was fine if she won't stay like Takeshi, Hayato and Lambo. If she is happier with her circus group, he shouldn't...

"Good night Tsunayoshi-kun... "The boy almost jumped when familiar masculine voice called him.

Tsuna turned around, "Professor... you startled me..." He stammered as leaned against the wire mesh fence.

The scientist crossed his arms, eyes never left the boy before him. "I heard from Hayato that you find another friend from that parallel world dream..."

Tsuna's breath hitched, "Ah... yes... Chrome, she is working as a magician in Phantasma Circus."

Innocenti raised an eyebrow, "I see... that traveling circus?

The brown haired boy nodded, smiling brightly. "Yes... she is really cool on stage." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"... Then Tsunayoshi-kun, will you talk to her?"

Tsuna stiffened, and he couldn't believe an answer that crossed his mind the moment Innocenti asked. No, he wouldn't. "I... " She had a life in that circus and she will leave soon, who was he to intrude on her life?

Innocenti crouched them so he was in Tsuna's eye level, "I will be honest... since I met you two months ago I admired you as a child who can deal with so much problems dumped on the top of his head..." Tsuna stared at the scientist in confusion, "Few months is not enough to know someone and I definitely couldn't understand you even though I am a psychologist... but Tsunayoshi-kun... even though you said..." Tsuna stiffened and his mind went haywire as each passing word was heard, "You don't want to be the same as your alternate self could it be deep down... you..."

Tsuna yelled, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"He covered his ears

"You admire the Vongola Decimo your alternate self have become..." Innocenti finished as he stood up, "Unlike you... he has power to protect and to you... your friend."

Tsuna curled up, unable to show his face. "I know... even friends I have now... I am so confused..."

"..."

"I thought with knowledge I have... I could make things better... I think that _I_ could do it... in the end I am just... " Tsuna muttered as a soft laugh emitted from his lip, devoid of feeling.

Innocenti crossed his arms, he didn't meant to brought this up so soon. But at this rate he feared the boy would get himself killed, not for reckless action like he did today but the lost of himself. Innocenti wished the boy could acknowledge his sense of self identity apart from his alternate self. Tsuna seek for his friends because he long for them but some part of him seek to be the same as that alternate self of his. Tsuna who started to aware of this felt guilty and tried to make himself worthy. That he could call himself not taking everything for granted.

"Tsuna... I want you to realize you are not the same as the you in that parallel world..." Innocenti began, "And then you can start to find yourself first... "

Tsuna looked up, his eyes were red after crying. "Eh? Find myself?"

The scientist grinned, "Yes... to find yourself that you will love... one that you won't be ashamed of." He paused, "A child always dream of they want to be this and that when they grow up..." He turned around, hands tucked inside his pants pocket. "But in the end all children grew up to be themselves and no one else..."

Tsuna blinked at that, all his life he had always thought he had to be like someone he looked up to. Amazing characters he read from the book or even that alternate self of his. "Growing up to be myself?"

Innocenti nodded, "You can wish to be anyone you wanted Tsunayoshi-kun but in the end... no matter how great your alternate self is... you befriend Hayato, Takeshi... Lambo, that brash boy Ryohei and also homicidal prefect... Hibari? You did that out of your free will and no one force you... "

"But I... " Tsuna stammered.

The scientist sighed, "You're thinking too much... and no matter what I don't think they will leave you anytime soon... or ever actually."

* * *

><p><strong>Next Day<strong>

Tsuna was reading a book Hayato brought for him from Innocenti's library while Hayato was reading on the coach and Takeshi was doing his math homework. It was an uncomfortable silence, the noise that could be heard was flipping page and scratching sound of pencil against paper. The brunette didn't know why but this silence hurt but more than anything their eyes that looking at anything but him hurt even more.

Tsuna dropped the book to his lap and blurted out.

**"I AM SO SORRY!"**

Hayato and Takeshi as one stood up or rather jumped off of their seats then stared at Tsuna in bewilderment, they had no idea what's with the sudden apology or what they should do in response. "Uhm... I forgive you?" It was Takeshi's reflex answer when someone asked for an apology to him, though it sounded like a question in the same time.

"He don't have to apologize to you!" Hayato snapped at the baseball club ace.

"I have to." Tsuna corrected.

Hayato's reflex response to Tsuna's correction of course was agreeing with his with enthusiastic nod. "Of course." He paused, "Why?"

Tsuna looked down, "For being an idiot and take it upon myself to get myself in trouble, forgetting you guys are always by my side... " He clenched his fist, "I always said I trust you with all my heart but... it's a lie, some part of me is doubting you... and myself." Tsuna muttered sadly, "Someone who can't believe in himself... how could I... "

Takeshi laughed out loud suddenly, "Geeze... Tsuna, you scared us for a moment there!"

Hayato sighed, "If that's why you apologize to us... boss, I am sorry but I am disappointed at you."

"..." Tsuna blinked owlishly at them, "Eh?"

"You should spill this insecurities of yours sooner." Takeshi said as he ruffled Tsuna's spiky hair, "So... is this doubting yourself means you kind of confused with yourself and your alternate self?"

Tsuna nodded hesitantly, "Yes."

Hayato sighed at that, "Boss... " He paused at the look Tsuna gave him, "Okay Tsuna... all of us do, after all we're ten years old kids with the memory of our alternate self that four years older than us, and even by mafia standard our alternate self have been through a lot."

"Right!" Takeshi agreed readily, "To be honest I am almost scared with our smooth sailing, with captain Tsuna in charge." He sang, "Our captain always looks confident and stuff that I almost sad we have to leave everything to him."

Tsuna blinked owlishly again, "I am afraid I am a bit lost."

Hayato and Takeshi laughed at him and Tsuna almost scared that they acted so out of character, they never agreed with each other but now they acted like they were two peas in a pod. "Usually I would never agree with baseball idiot over here, but I have to agree... " He looked up to Tsuna as he crouched down on the floor, "I have always look up at you, both me and my alternate self... always insecure if this person ever need me. Especially... when he take it upon himself to bear every responsibility and take the lead." He paused, "What I am trying to say is that... we are here for you, and it have nothing to do with our alternate selves... does it matter why we gather together in the first place?"

"In the end..." Takeshi continued, "It's us who choose to follow you, to stand by your side..."

Hayato nodded, "Isn't that enough? For us... that's all we need... " He grinned sheepishly, "Since Hibari and Ryouhei aren't here..." He trailed off.

They knew Tsuna was in hospital. Ryouhei was asked by Kyouko to not visit Tsuna unless he could restrain himself from shouting, while Hibari... he was somewhere near probably to make sure the interesting herbivore made it alive after challenging a carnivore.

Takeshi hummed, "If we can speak on their behalf... those two would never even think or confused with themselves, and since they unofficially stand by your side already... " If constant invitation to boxing club Ryohei made and somewhat awkward acknowledgement Hibari had were anything to go by. "I can safely say... all of us are in the same boat and trusts you with all our heart."

Tsuna didn't know how to respond but his eyes had the idea, he cried. "Hic hic..."

Takeshi and Hayato were stunned, "We made him cry!"

"That's tears of happiness!" Takeshi said with a grin as he patted Tsuna's back.

Tsuna nodded, "I... don't know what to say... but I am also partly sad."

"WHY?!" They looked scandalized that Tsuna was sad after all that speech.

"For being an idiot to not realize your feeling sooner..." He sobbed, no longer care for dirtying the hospital blanked as he used it to wipe his tears, "I am so stupid, I thought I am no longer Dame-Tsuna but I still am... "

Hayato looked relieved but also partly guilty. "Uhm... err... " Nothing came out so he opted to offer Tsuna a pack of tissue from his pocket.

"It's happens to the best of us... you know, being an idiot..." Takeshi tried to console the crying boy, "But there's always a next time."

"Uhm... " Tsuna hiccuped, "Hayato, Takeshi... "

"Hn?"

Tsuna smiled at them, his eyes were teary and his cheeks flushed a deep red as he said. "Thank you..."

Their cheek was tinged with pink as they replied, "You're welcome."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

They almost jumped when they heard someone knocking the door, Tsuna quickly wiped his tears and hoped he looked decent and not a wreck. His mother shouldn't come back for another hour so who was it? "Come in." Tsuna said timidly.

The door opened and revealed the plump man they recognized as the ringmaster they met yesterday, Tsuna frowned at the man as he greeted the boy. "Hello Tsunayoshi-kun, I am the ringmaster of Phantasma Circus. My name is Thomas Fudge, you can call me Thomas-san." He winked.

Tsuna didn't know why but there was something in this man's body language he disliked, Innocenti once in a while teach him about body language and micro expression but he was still in process of learning and far from mastering it. But still... with that minimum knowledge Tsuna could tell this man was a liar. "Nice to meet you Thomas-san. " He said in an almost forced polite tone. "What bring you here? A Ringmaster of a big circus must be a very busy person." Tsuna said in faked innocent wonder. Takeshi and Hayato were on guard when they saw how Tsuna behaved, Tsuna rarely took instant dislike on someone if not never and when he did there must be a reason.

Thomas beamed at the boy, "I come to say thank you to our young brave hero of course!" He said with a theatrics that could put even Innocenti to shame. "Nagi-chan, come in!"

The three boys perked up when they saw the shy girl hesitantly came in as ordered, Tsuna smiled at her. "Hello... "

Nagi bowed, "Thank you for saving me... " When she looked up she was smiling brightly and a hat and a cane on each hand. "And to our brave hero, let me show you a magical time!"

Something was strange, he couldn't put a finger on it but he just knew it. The steely glint on her eyes, it was determined and sorrowful eyes that tried to convey something to him. She was smiling but it didn't reach her eyes as she tapped her hat with her cane, Tsuna would feel bad for not paying much attention to confetti, ribbon, roses, and pigeons that burst out of her hat. All his attention was captivated by her eyes, sorrowful eyes that full of hope. She had prepared the next trick, revealing a coin on one hand then put it on another hand. Her fist clenched and when she opened it, the coin had multiplied to six coins. Three coins on each hand then she showed skilled coin roll, flipping the coins through the back of her fingers with practiced ease.

Tsuna would like to think she was enjoying herself but... he couldn't shake off the feeling something was amiss. It was not until Nagi ended her short show and bowed he confirmed his suspicion. She was smiling at him but her eyes were glassy with tears, "Thank you again for saving me... " There was a pause before she added, ."Boss."

And with that the ringmaster bid them a good bye then ushered the magician girl out, and not in gently manner as he almost shoved her out. Hayato and Takeshi were amazed by the show but confused why Tsuna looked like someone just dropped a bucket of ice water on his head. Hayato yelped in shock when they saw a dove flying out from under Tsuna's bed and perched on his lap, it had a folded indigo colored paper tied on its leg. Tsuna untied the paper and unfolded it, his eyes widened in shock.

_Boss, if you know who I am... please help me. _  
><em>It's selfish of me to ask for more after everything you have done to save me yesterday, but I don't know who else I can ask for help. <em>  
><em>I want to escape from the circus before it leave Namimori by tomorrow night. <em>  
><em>I can't explain the full details of my situation, but the ringleader and circus members are after something from me... something that belonged to my deceased father and that's the only reason they let me to stay alive. My only friend here is Allen-san the whiteface clown who protected me yesterday. At this rate they will really kill us, their effort to force me to give in my father's legacy is futile so far since<em> _I **don't** even know the whereabouts of this legacy. _  
><em>You're my last hope Boss... <em>

_Nagi (Chrome Dokuro) _

Hayato and Takeshi who were reading the letter over Tsuna's shoulder paled, Hayato cursed. "That bastard FOX! I know that guy is fishy!"

"What should we do Tsuna?" Takeshi asked, panic was written all over his face.

Tsuna took a deep breath, "We will save her of course but... we're not going to do it alone."

KNOCK KNOCK

Innocenti opened the door and came in before anyone in the room could greet him, Rin trailed behind him. "What? You guys looks so tense." The scientist commented then turned his head to the side, "By the way... I met the ringleader and the girl you guys spoke of yesterday, I have to say... he looks disgusting."

Hayato snarled, "Not just disgusting in looks, the inside also rotten!"

"Huh?" Innocenti blinked owlishly then realized the boys looked furious for some reason. "Did I miss something?" He asked curiously.

Tsuna hopped off of his bed, his fist clenched on the letter Chrome gave him. "Professor... I need your help."

Innocenti was quiet for a moment, hand cupping his chin as he stared at the determined boy before him. "I guess... you have learned something after all."

Sky was vast and limitless, but without storm, rain, sun, lightning, cloud and mist it was just a meaningless blank canvas without harmony.

* * *

><p><strong>FUTURE: Brothers of The Sky<br>**

**"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." **  
><strong> ― Anne Frank<strong>

Shouichi hated himself so much now, especially since he had played a villain role like his alternate self did. It made him felt sick and if he had a choice to keep Tsuna's brother away from them without doing this, he would do it in a heartbeat. The problem was, he had none. Shouichi and the rest of student council knew it was inevitable to not be involved _at all _with mafia. Some of them was born and raised in mafia, some was related to a mafia like Tsuna and any other factor that relate them to the industry of violence.

Sure they won't involve themselves at any way if possible and so far they did a good job to be under their radar, added with Imonoyama protection over them. About the protection Imonoyama provided, it was not like security police that followed them every day. They liked their privacy too much for that. Imonoyama was a giant business empire of Japan and pretty well known in the world, and why they were so well known? Because they were eccentric and enjoyed every chance they had for festivities. That included as tradition in their school and by extension all Student Council under them was well known for participation in said festivities. It's not like they were so famous that people flocked after them when they walk through the street like some sort of idol, but no one with high standing position in their chosen field didn't know them. In short, they were the center of attention of their chosen field and the world was pretty much watching their growth closely.

To mafia, a secret society of underworld they were virtually untouchable. Or so Shouchi hoped.

"Shouichi..." The genius inventor snapped out of his thought then turned to the other occupant of the SC's office. The student council president was sitting on his chair, arms resting against the glass surface of his desk. Tsuna was looking at Shouichi with those gentle eyes of his, while it was so warm Shouichi felt hurt that Tsuna was looking at him that way even after what he had done. "You did your very best... regardless of my feeling I shouldn't be angry at you. Thank you for choosing this painful choice for me. "

It was painful but in the same time it relieved him, "I am so sorry..." He muttered weakly but loud enough to be heard by Tsuna.

"Don't be..." Tsuna waved his hand in negative gesture, "Since I chose to place myself in this position, I am well aware... that my brother and I could never be honest with each other. That there would be always a wall between us..." And his brother one day would distant himself further than Tsuna, just like what their father did.

"Tsuna..."

"At one point... he will leave me for Vongola, and I am in no position to stop him without losing what I hold dear..." Tsuna looked down, his eyes covered by his laced fingers. "But regardless of what the future hold..." He trailed off then looked up to Shouchi, the mechanic could see strained smile on his face. "I still have the present, and I should do what I could for him... that's the most important thing right?" Future was still so far away but now was just within his grasp.

"Yes..."

* * *

><p><strong>Three weeks later <strong>

_"I will not pry." _That was what he said three weeks ago to his younger twin and as days and then weeks passed. He had started regretting saying that after the first week passed with Natsu acted like nothing happened and somewhat avoided him. It was not possible for Natsuhiko to avoid Tsuna, they lived in the same house and study in the same school after all. But it was pretty obvious Natsu started to keep Tsuna at arm length, he greeted and chatted with Tsuna normally but Tsuna caught Natsu tried to avert his eyes when talking many times. **  
><strong>

Tsuna knew he promised to not ask, but the way Natsu acted worried him. Natsu was the worse liar Tsuna had ever known, he was as good at lying as ostrich hiding its body. However in the same time Natsu was good at hiding his feeling and trouble when he felt cornered, he would keep smiling and acted like his usual self. He at first thought it was because his friends told Natsu something along the line 'don't drag your brother down' or something... but he doubted Natsu would be so depressed just because an outsider told him how to behave with his family. Natsu was too stubborn and proud to beat just like that, but most of all Natsu was strong. Tsuna always knew his brother was his opposite and if there was one thing they shared, it was their desire to be strong and stubbornness they inherited from their parents.

Tsuna had been looking forward to make up the time they had lost once Natsu returned to Japan, but what he got were two okay days, one shitty days and 18 days of being somewhat ignored by Natsu. He didn't know what made him could hold his patience for three weeks to not snap and yelled at Natsu, then again with Reborn hovering over Natsu for the last three weeks they didn't get much of private time to sort things out. Call him stupid but desperation called desperate measure!

Especially after conversation with Mukuro three weeks ago...

* * *

><p><strong>Three weeks ago<strong>

_Tsuna wanted to disbelieve what he heard from Mukuro, he hoped he could afford that luxury but he couldn't. It was nothing surprising since once the heir of Vongola was out of Italy, one way or another the information would get out soon. It was just just an information in that magnitude even Vongola couldn't hide forever. Reborn of all people had a neon sign on his head that said 'I am number 1 Hitman in the world!' and no way there was nothing fishy Reborn suddenly change residence from Italy if not on mission. The concern would be if there was anyone who dared to piss Vongola and Reborn off, now that the biggest famiglia was getting paranoid since the death of Frederico. The last report he received from Mukuro, one famiglia was annihilated after they got their hands on info about the new heir of Vongola. If just knowing Natsu's existence flared such reaction from Vongola, it would a pandemonium if the news of assassination plan got out._

_Whoever planned the assassination was discreet enough with hiring a mercenary instead of dirtying their hands. However according to Mukuro, the mercenary they hired was as discreet as a five years old Lambo and his grenades.  
><em>

_** Orchestra, Musica ex Machina.**_

_Well, it was no wonder Mukuro got this information so easily. This particular mercenary group was indeed as discreet as Lambo when he was still a brat armed with grenades. They were more of a duo actually since their not so discreet assassination method and penchant to create havoc had reduced their number from eight to two. The two photos Mukuro (in Mitsu's body) produced with illusion made his mind almost go haywire. The first was a fair skinned man with short, brown hair and a goatee with eyes in lighter shade. He had shark like smile and teeth like one, just from one look Tsuna could tell this was a blood thirsty type of assassin who killed just for the heck of it. The other was a girl with fair skin, hazel eyes and light brown hair. Tsuna's eyes were wide when he guessed how old the girl was, she couldn't be older than twenty and at most was in her late teens._

_These two was planning to assassinate his brother?_

_"They were psycho type of assassin." Mukuro informed Tsuna, "Mind you... they called mission as concert and their weapons latest mission involved gun fight in the coast of freaking Dubai."  
><em>

_Tsuna rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking his glasses off beforehand. "I am sure Reborn could handle them just fine..."_

_"If he didn't decide taking on Orchestra would be a good test for your brother." Mukuro pointed out mischievously._

_The amber eyed teen scoffed, "Reborn won't let the only heir of Vongola and his student to take on something he is not ready yet."_

_"I am fail to see how a brat that fight in his boxer is ready to take on Vindice' escapees." The illusionist retorted smoothly, referring to his alternate self battle with Kokuyo gang._

_Tsuna sighed at that, "... It's not his choice and you know it, beside at that point my alternate self is 'somewhat' ready..." Leon was ready to enter cocoon state at that time after all.  
><em>

_"Somewhat indeed." Mukuro agreed with a smirk. "My point still stand, your brother is not safe at all from Orchestra." The illusionist snorted, "I suspect this duo is chosen because they're flashy and tend to kill just for the heck of it as you can see from Opera Massacre incident last year." Mukuro pointed out, "Thus... why they go after your brother can be waved off as them looking for a challenge..." _

_Tsuna frowned at that, "I am sure they charged extra fee for boasting about killing the heir of Vongola as a challenge to any unfortunate witnesses in vicinity."  
><em>

_"If the duo left any..."Mukuro couldn't resist to point out.  
><em>

__"I doubt even Orchestra is dumb enough to charge head on against an arcobaleno." Tsuna drawled almost testily."And they don't know Reborn, if anything they'd assume Reborn would guard Natsu and trying to charge head on would be suicidal."__

_Mukuro smirked, "So true... and it's not like certain someone would stay idle when his precious brother is threatened."_

_He couldn't deny that. He didn't want to be involved in mafia business but his brother was another matter entirely, "...I'll not but I hope... it won't come to that." Tsuna muttered. _

_"Whatever... your brother is your business not mine, but remember..." Mukuro said in threatening tone. "You have an oath to keep, **caro il mio cielo"**  
><em>

_Tsuna laughed softly, "Like I could forget that..."  
><em>

* * *

><p>According to Mukuro, due to their already tight schedule Orchestra was planning their concert in Japan would be by next month. That was one week from now, and whatever Reborn would do they would have chaos on their hand soon. He would have to sort whatever problem Natsu had with him soon and just for today he'd screw being discreet.<p>

With that in mind Tsuna went to Natsu's class which located in the first floor, he was concentrating on planning what his next step and pretty much auto-pilot on the way from his class to Natsu's. He vaguely recall returning greetings and refused an offer to visit tea ceremony club. He planned to get his brother to talk in school because at home his brother could always lock his room then pretend to sleep or any other excuse with Reborn in tow. At school however Tsuna knew Natsu's schedule and he somewhat owned the school. Using his authority for private need wasn't something he liked to do but for his brother an exception could be made.

* * *

><p><strong>Class ID <strong>

Huzimori Mitsuru in fact was pretty smart for someone who didn't belong to Z class like Tsuna or the rest of student council, Natsu felt a bit stupid for not noticing that even with growing friendship he had with the boy. Mitsu apparently belong under Irie Shouichi's department or rather a club that gained enough reputation to be considered as a department within their school and funded themselves with sponsors. Unlike Irie who had sponsor throwing themselves at his feet to let them to _pay _for him to do his project, Mitsu and other students in the same department but not belong to Z class were not as fortunate. Then again according to Mitsu, no sponsors meant they were not good enough to work on real project.

However it didn't mean they were completely jobless within the department, they mostly working on what so called design concept. They were selling concept of invention which feasible but not in prototype state yet, and compete in competition to gain attention from sponsors. According to Mitsu all students here had clear career path since they were young and club or any department they belonged to was a some sort of trial workplace to them. In fact most alumni of Namimori Gakuen and Clamp Gakuen worked in their school after graduated.

Reborn said it was one of many reasons Vongola took trouble to pull strings to get Natsu enrolled to the school since just like mafia academy in Italy, it was a good place to train as a boss and forming alliance.

Mitsu huffed as he reread article on his N-pad, his bag was already packed and ready to go but Natsu was still packing his belonging. "What a shame... a floating capsule shaped car win this competition?!"

The other classmate of Natsu who also in the same department as Mitsu rolled his eyes, "What do you expect? This Car Company is a sucker for anything that looked futuristic..." His name was Fukube Satoshi, he had light brown hair with the same style with Natsu's but a bit longer with eyes in darker shade.

Mitsu snorted "And also... I heard G country's company invented a anti-tornado house! Imagine my surprise when I saw it was actually a Star Trek phaser (type ll) that could hide it vulnerable head like a turtle!" From how Mitsu talked, Natsu thought the boy was scandalized about the said Star Trek shaped house for some unexplainable reason.

"What a shame!" They chorused then turned to Natsu who stared at them unblinkingly, "So, what do you think?"

At least they stopped talking about mechanical stuff and go to parts Natsu could catch on, "I guess from how you sounded it's lame... but I don't get how floating car or Star Trek shaped house is lame..."

"It's totally is!" They chorused as Natsu shoved his notes to his bag faster.

"Err..."

"Hello Natsu..."

The said boy froze in the mid of packing his belonging and stared at his brother who stood beside the door of his class, which effectively blocked his escape route. "Tsuna?"

Tsuna smiled at him, then approached his younger twin gracefully. All eyes locked to them and Natsu swore they were waiting for some sort of drama or something, then again it was their beloved Kaichou coming to their class. "What are you doing here Tsuna?" Wrong thing to say, since majority of students looking at him weirdly as if his question was a dumb one.

"You see... today Kaa-san is going to spa with her friends and I have a business to attend, so your dinner..." Tsuna trailed off with a smile.

"TV dinner?" Natsu gave a wild guess, he hadn't had that for a while since he came to Italy.

Tsuna crossed his arms at that, "No one in Sawada Household would ever eat unhealthy meal, Kaa-san would be so angry if you do." Tsuna said in brotherly tone, "So you are coming with me today."

"Where?" Natsu asked in alarm.

Tsuna grinned boyishly, "We are going to Tokyo, Clamp Gakuen."

"EH?!"

* * *

><p>Natsu didn't know since when his twin could make him so obedient like a good little brother. For the better part of his life, Natsu had always been in charge in their brotherhood relationship. Tsuna always the one who throttle from behind with tiny steps when they went out to play with other children. Or rather he went to play while Tsuna watched from sideline, under a three shade or sitting on the swing. If Natsu was tired from playing Tsuna would come and timidly offered to buy him juice or any refreshment he wanted.<p>

Tsuna was a target for bullies, especially in third grade when both of them weren't in the same class. The new classmates didn't know Tsuna was the brother of popular Sawada Natsuhiko, Sawada was a pretty common surname in Japan after all. Tsuna's timid personality and likeable attitude in class that the teachers loved made him a very likely target. Natsu would be the one who charged and fought with the bully, but that time Tsuna refused Natsu to get into trouble because of him. Tsuna managed to stop the bully himself, but not in a manly way Natsu liked. Tsuna reported the bullies to teacher and they were scolded for it. The homeroom teacher of third grade was the Japanese Literature teacher, and the said teacher was very fond of Tsuna.

Natsu frowned upon Tsuna's action because to him it was cowardly of Tsuna to involve adults, he had refused Natsu's help so why did he ask a teacher to help him then? Since then their bond wavered as Natsu distanced himself from his coward brother. Tsuna did nothing to discourage Natsu, then again Tsuna was too timid. Added at that time Iemitsu started going away more often and the two brothers had different opinion about their father and strained their relationship even more. Natsu liked to think their father was traveling around the world doing heroic and cool stuff, while Tsuna thought their father abandoned them. They didn't hate each other, but since then they just found each other incompatible. And then... the day Iemitsu took Natsu away from Japan came.

It was not until the end of his first year in Italy Natsu realized why he was angry that Tsuna asking for help from an adult and not him, it was a childish jealousy. He didn't know since when but he took pride in protecting Tsuna, that he was a hero to his weak older twin. Tsuna had taken that pride away from little Natsu, thus the hero no longer had anyone to protect. Natsu was ashamed he pushed his brother away for that childish pride of his, and once he was presented to his duty as Vongola heir Natsu desperately clung to another thing he could protect. But even then he realized his way to be the tenth boss was long and pressure from every side felt like about to crush him.

When he was asked to go back to Japan he was relieved to be away from prying eyes of subordinates who expected him to be as good as his father. He wanted to see his brother, blissfully oblivious it was his pride wanting to see his inferior brother. And then the supposed inferior brother had grown became someone else. This brother not even belong to him anymore, Tsuna had someone else he had to dedicate himself to. He was the precious president of Namimori Gakuen, he had no business with Natsu who in spite of being the heir of Vongola was no one in Namimori Gakuen society. Part of him wanted to rebel, he didn't want to be in his brother's shadow or his father's... his brother's kindness felt like salt on his wound, especially the smile and numerous help Tsuna tried to give in the last few weeks.

This was just another helping attempt Tsuna made and he would brush it off again, his brother acting all brotherly like this after being ignored for weeks made him felt guilty. "What do you mean I have to go to Tokyo with you Tsuna?!" Natsu blurted out in a huff, Reborn was sitting on his head as usual since who knows when.

Tsuna in the other hand was staring into empty space with his back facing Natsu, "What do you mean the meeting place is changed?" He asked incredulously.

Reborn sighed, "Your brother is speaking to his phone you realized?"

Natsu flushed a deep red, he was to caught up on his thought that he didn't notice Tsuna's phone was ringing just now. "I was spacing out out."

The hitman would have berate his student for spacing out that in battlefield would get himself killed however he didn't, in the last few weeks had tone down being spartan with Natsu. The boy had became a bit too obedient to his liking, and Reborn wondered if getting his pride crushed was not a good thing after all. Natsu was still a brat and nothing could make him mature overnight, but still... the brat tried to be mature with being someone else was getting in Reborn's nerve. He had this airhead aura and acted oblivious of his surrounding, just like that man...

Reborn wondered if Natsu noticed his mask crumble the moment Tsuna stepped in, whatever made Natsu acted strangely had something to with Sawada Tsunayoshi. The hitman looked at the older twin, still conversing on his phone. "I don't mind changing the meeting place but Nokoru-kun, please... _please_ don't be up to something now of all times." He paused, "No no! What make you think of that? I just have something I need to do afterward so any unscheduled party like usual is not favorable."

Natsu stared at Tsuna, "This Nokoru he's talking to was a elementary student right? Tsuna speak to him as if this Nokoru is some sort of business partner."

Reborn scoffed, "Don't talk like this Nokoru is a brat in your point of view, in case you forget... you are an elementary student yourself less than half a year ago."

"Exactly... " Natsu jumped when his older twin piped in, Tsuna was still talking to his phone but it sounded like he was agreeing with Reborn for a second there, "If we go over that much topics in one go it would be ineffective..." Tsuna paused again, "Aa... about that..." Tsuna trailed off, "Very well, pick us up then..." And with that Tsuna ended the line then turned to his younger twin. "Sorry about that Natsu, eh... did you ask something?"

Natsu shook his head, "Never mind that... " Then he turned to the side, "Eh.. is it okay for me to join you guys? I am not part of student council..."

Katou Nagi who stood by his side smiled, "It'll be no problem... "

. "Oh..." Though he wondered which part was no problem.

"Nah... it's not like anyone other than Tsuna and other president will have anything to do." Takeshi, the sport committee leader said cheerfully.

Out of his brother's council the girls and Yamamoto probably the only one he was not nervous to be around with, since the former was not in the same room in his last encounter with SC and the latter he had not much contact with since the encounter in music room. But still... the sheer presence of theirs was unnerving for some reason.

Currently they were standing on the terrace cafe and Natsu wondered why they didn't go to the school gate and wait for the school car to pick them up, but Tsuna decided they had to wait here. As far as he could see on the side of terrace cafe was a big garden with pathway that in no way fit for car to go through. Natsu blinked when he realized suddenly it became a bit dark, a cloud maybe? He swore the weather today was cloudless the last time he checked.

"They're here..." Tsuna said.

Natsu looked up, he was sure no cloud could look like a zeppelin. His eyes widened, the Clamp student council pick them up with a fucking Zeppelin?! "Eeh..."

Tsuna raised his hands in placating gesture, "Don't look at me, using zeppelin for traveling is never my idea... " He had a forlorn look on his face as he said it, "And to tell you the truth... we either resign ourselves to play along with their tune or die trying to swim against the current of insanity." The same could be said in regards to Vongola though, it was terrifying when he thought how much similarity Imonoyama family had with Vongola especially their penchant for ridiculous tradition.

Reborn nodded approvingly, "As expected of the youngest son of Imonoyama."

Tsuna inwardly rolled his eyes, "One of these days... we should tone down the flashiness."

* * *

><p><strong>Clamp Gakuen Zeppelin<strong>

Natsu had to say he was pretty impressed though not overly so, he had seen enough of flashy luxuriousness Vongola could offer. For Natsu who had been raised in a modest household for ten years, all these flashiness was ridiculous and unnecessary. Tsuna seemed to be showered by this for a while like he was, and he found it funny for all difference between them in spite of being a twin they could agree on this. From the face Tsuna pulled for a while it was a mix of resignation and alarm.

"Welcome!" Imonoyama Nokoru was a typical blond prince that materialized from fairytale book every little girl would dream of, that was the first impression Natsu had when he saw the boy dressed in Clamp school uniform came to welcome his brother, Nagi, Takeshi and him. "Hello Sawada Natsuhiko-senpai, it's an honor to meet you... I am Imonoyama Nokoru." He introduced himself then extended a hand to shake. Takeshi had excused himself to look for someone named Suoh and the blond boy told him to look for this Suoh in the main lounge.

Natsu shook the hand stiffly, "The pleasure is mine Imonoyama-san..." He might be not the most diplomatic person but being the heir of a mafia famiglia should guarantee you a minimal diplomatic skill would be drilled on your mind. "Thank you for allowing me intrude..."

Tsuna eyed his brother in confusion, "Natsu?" While Natsu acted diplomatic, it was not unexpected but his brother was not one to exchange pleasantries like this.

Nokoru chuckled softly, a paper fan with Clamp Gakuen insignia unfolded to cover half of his face. "My... you're exaggerating! Just call me Nokoru, no one call me with my family name nowadays... "

The brown haired boy raised an eyebrow, the younger boy was so polite and it was almost scary. Nonno's guardians back in Italy warned him that a charismatic and friendly person not necessarily a good allies, this person might be a type who wormed his way in and control you. Of course Natsu took the fact this boy was a civilian and grade school student in mind, then again you couldn't be too cautious. He had a bad experience with someone with student council badge on them anyway.

"And what's with intruding?" Nokoru continued, "Tsunayoshi-senpai, your brother is so funny! Don't tell me he think our meeting is like important business meeting between CEOs or something?!"

Tsuna unexpectedly joined Nokoru in laughing, "The fault is partly mine... I never told him what kind of meeting we are going to commence here. We are going to have an afternoon tea actually."

Natsu flushed a deep red, "Tsuna!"

"Yeah yeah... but the bad news even though it's more like an afternoon tea than proper meeting, someone... from high school division decided to join in the last minute..." Nokoru rolled his eyes.

The heir of Vongola wondered why his brother, Takeshi, and Nagi suddenly grimaced, "Eh?"

"Hello Sawada-kun... I see you have an extra baggage with you." A smooth masculine voice interrupted their conversation.

The newcomer who approached them was a boy with brown hair and eyes in lighter shade than Tsuna's, dressed neatly in Clamp Gakuen uniform. He was quite tall and just from the first glance he was a perfect portrait of role model student. Natsu couldn't tell why but for some reason he felt uncomfortable around this person.

Tsuna smiled at the newcomer, "Hello Yagami-senpai, I don't know this extra baggage you spoke of..."

Natsu flinched, this Yagami was talking about him! What did he say about intruding again? This guy definitely wasn't welcome for him to be here! Reborn who sat on his head huffed, "Be quiet Baka-Natsu, see how your brother handle this guy and learn."

"Maybe you need new glasses Sawada-kun... since I can clearly see extra baggage you bring..." Yagami pointed out with a gentleman smile.

Tsuna chuckled softly, "You doubt my eyes now Yagami-senpai? That's rich... "

Reborn raised an eyebrow, Tsuna unexpectedly lose his cool so fast. Maybe it because it was his brother who was insulted? Then again it was not even a minute since they started engaged in verbal battle, it was too early to judge. Yagami seemed to have the same opinion as Reborn so he continued, "Ah... you who are chosen to be a council president like me, how could I doubt you." He retorted smoothly.

Faster than anyone bar Reborn could react Tsuna had moved and took hold of Yagami's right hand on his, "Of course." Tsuna said with his golden eyes staring straight at the taller boy, not even a stutter could erupt from the shocked president at the sudden contact. "We... as fellow student councils shall trust each other, walking hand in hand to go through our school life and live up to our school motto."

Natsu was stunned to see his brother suddenly launched speech of unity in student council, patriotism, comradeship and what else that made Yagami who still had his hand on death grip froze on the spot. To some people his brother was launching a touching speech but he could tell Tsuna was knocking the stuck up guy off of his high pedestal.

"It's such a relieve to have a reliable and trustful comrade, I am sure we will be working together more in the future Yagami-senpai." Before Yagami could utter a word in response Tsuna shook his hand firmly, shooting unwavering determined eyes that made the other president speechless. "Let's get along kay? Yagami-senpai! Nokoru-kun!" Tsuna beamed at them with his best innocent smile.

The next thing Natsu knew his brother had both Nokoru and Yagami on his arms in group hug, the heir of Vongola was sure fangirls would kill to get their hands on a photo of this moment. Natsu blinked when he heard a sound of camera's shutter and then a flash, he spun around and saw Katou Nagi was taking at least ten shots of the three boys with her cellphone. One Natsu noted was the same model as his brother's but in indigo color.

Yagami paled when he saw what Nagi had done. He pried Tsuna's arm off of him and shouted at the girl, "Katou-san... if you would be so kind to hand over your cellphone..." He was smiling but it was easy to see it was strained and he was gritting his teeth too, his hand extended as expecting the magician girl to hand over her cellphone willingly like a good girl.

Tsuna patted Yagami on the shoulder, "Maa maa... come on Yagami-senpai, I am sure a couple of picture wouldn't be harmful."

"That's violation of privacy, Sawada-kun." Yagami snapped.

Nokoru laughed, "Oh come on... what violation it could be to take pictures of your friends, Yagami-senpai?" The youngest president wondered innocently.

Yagami was about to retort that he was not their friend but Tsuna didn't let him, "Nagi meant no harm... she is _my_ trusted member of student council and a friend." He winked, "I can assure you those photos will stay where it is... you can trust me to personally ask her to delete it later if you're so worried. In fact I will do it now... for your sake."

"Fine!" He snapped.

Reborn would have agreed Yagami had nothing to worry about but he was sure Nagi just now sent those pictures to someone, either it was to her friends or her other personal email. Reborn smirked, Tsuna definitely knew this, he thought. Tsuna even went as far as asked Nagi to hand over the cellphone with knowing smirk that Nagi returned with innocent smile that would fool most people, but Reborn was not most people. He even showed Yagami he was deleting the photos as he spoke consoling words. Finished deleting the pictures Tsuna handed the cellphone to Yagami to check, satisfied that he found the photos indeed deleted the older teen gave the cellphone back to Nagi.

Yagami huffed, he had enough humiliation for one day then stomped away to the lounge area. Nokoru shook his head as he followed the older president with Tsuna, Natsu, Reborn and Nagi in tow. "My my... "

Natsu walked by Tsuna's side, raising an eyebrow at his older twin. "Oi Tsuna... just now."

Tsuna was smiling, "Yagami-san is really a good person, he has enough ethical integrity to never cross the line of privacy..."

Nagi who walked in the other side of Tsuna nodded in agreement, "He would've known I've sent those photos to Haru-chan and Kyouko-chan if he dare to check my mail... "

Natsu blinked, "Did my brother just implying he would chuck ethical inte-whatever aside if situation calls for it?!" He whispered to Reborn who was sitting on his head. Whatever it was, Tsuna sounded a bit criminal.

"Ethical Integrity." Reborn gritted out, annoyed at his student's obliviousness, "It's basically not betraying convictions or moral standards regardless of the consequence it may bring..." He paused, "And what your brother did is not really criminal just undermining his opposition and annoy the heck out of them, the worse he could do with those photos? Showing it off to school population and claim that Yagami boy and him now are good friends."

Considering how that Yagami went out his way to annoy Tsuna that could be a very effective blackmail material, "I never know my brother dare to do this kind of things."

Tsuna turned around and Natsu jumped in fright, "Hm? What's wrong Natsu?"

"Eh..." Natsu trailed off, "I never know you're not above blackmailing..." The younger twin froze, he ran his mouth without thinking again!

The older twin gave him an amused smile, "Nah... I am going to keep those for my personal amusement, beside... unless I catch him off guard again that will be the only memorial of us as a good friends..." Tsuna almost sounded sad at that, "I don't know... we just rubbed each other in the wrong way in every single meeting."

Natsu snorted, relieved his brother was not offended. "From what I saw, he provoked you first..."

Tsuna laughed at that, "Sometimes I am the one who throw the first punch, you see... I just can't get along with that guy."

The younger twin blinked, Tsuna looked so normal and boyish that to admit he couldn't get along with someone he wanted. "Why would you want to get along with that jerk?" You got along with that Hibari, that was an accomplishment already, Natsu thought.

"Language." Tsuna warned, "And for your question, why not?"

Natsu smirked, "I don't know that Sawada-Kaichou's charm is not working for everybody like I thought... don't worry Tsuna, it can't be helped! That guy looked like he had twenty feet pole stuck on his ass so... "

"That's a relieve..." Tsuna breathed out with a sigh.

"Ha?"

Tsuna glanced at him, his eyes narrowed skeptically. "I am worried since my brother have been so cold these days and he didn't up to mischief like usual... he even redo his homework without complaining when Reborn ordered him..." He listed on much to Natsu's embarrassment, "Your language aside I have to say... I am glad to have my old little brother back..."

"... You're worried?" He asked.

Tsuna crossed his arms, "An understatement of course..."

Natsu thought Tsuna already had too much on his plate with his schoolwork and other duty to notice him, he was happy Tsuna still pay attention to him but also guilty he had troubled his brother when he tried not to. "I am sorry..."

Tsuna frowned, it seemed not that easy to get Natsu to cheer up and confide to him. Then again two years was a pretty long time to make a distance even between brothers. "If you're sorry..." It's unfair to take advantage on his guilt but Tsuna was willing to not spare any tricks to get his brother to talk to him. "I would like to have a talk over dinners after we're done with the meeting."

Natsu stared at his brother, he sighed wearily. "Yes..." What else he could say.

* * *

><p><strong>Two hours later<strong>

Natsu was tempted to scream liar at Tsuna for letting him waiting for hours, but that was not mature and he was not completely neglected or anything. In fact his brother showed him a very spacious room beside the meeting room where he got TV, video games, magazines, everything a teenage boy could spent the whole day with. Tsuna also told him, while he could call room service, he was not allowed to eat too much snack since they were going to get dinner when they reached Tokyo Port. Reborn had wandered off somewhere but probably spying on his brother's meeting. Thankfully Reborn didn't ask him to join, because he hated crawling inside the air duct no matter how clean Imonoyamas kept it. **  
><strong>

Speaking of the meeting, Reborn secretly informed him about the stuck up president who disliked Tsuna. His full name was Yagami Raito, the son of Kanto Police chief and somewhat famed as high school detective. Just like any other student council president of Clamp Gakuen, he was a role model student with a long mile of achievement. It was no wonder Natsu felt irked and uncomfortable around the guy, he was the son of a cop for crying out loud. But his dislike of Tsuna couldn't be because he knew Tsuna was actually a son of a mob boss right?

The image of his brother smiling as he adjusted his glasses with a thick book in hand popped up on Natsu's mind, what an unlikely image of the son of a mafia Tsuna had.

* * *

><p>Yamamoto Takeshi, Katou Nagi, and Takamura Suoh was sitting on a sofa placed on the corner of the room. Far enough to not become part of the meeting but close enough to join in when needed. They were escort and assistant to their president, it puzzled them Yagami didn't bring anyone with him but then again he was never known to be a social person.<p>

Takeshi moaned, "It's been too long just to stick in this topic, ne... Suoh?"

Suoh nodded, "Yes, but Yagami-senpai is particularly stubborn today..." He paused, "But then again Tsunayoshi-senpai is the same Takeshi-nii."

"Is that so?" Nagi wondered out loud.

* * *

><p><strong>Few minutes later<strong>

"This meeting shall be adjourned then... " Yagami sighed as he crossed his arms, "I guess that's a good enough reason for us to reject this proposal."

Tsuna face-palmed, "Imagine the political nightmare your father will face later... I feel sorry for him." Chief Yagami was going to have a hard time, then again he couldn't let this proposal got through.

Yagami sighed, one eye closed so only his left gazing at Tsuna skeptically. "In spite all odds we have Sawada-kun, I trusted your judgement... if you're so adamant about this proposal... and since all of us in agreement here... let's just leave it at that."

"Thank you very much Yagami-senpai." Tsuna said, smiling softly at the older teen. _That was close..._He thought as sighed in relieve.

* * *

><p>Fancy restaurant was not a word Natsu would use to describe the place they chose for dinner, of course topping all luxurious and grandiose of Imonoyama they saw it fit to book the whole place just for them to eat. The restaurant was a steak house which pretty well known for the seafood, a restaurant on a ship. Tsuna said the booking was arranged by the headmaster for various reasons, which Natsu was not interested to know. Tsuna had took privilege to get them to eat in the same table alone, smiling sheepishly at Nokoru's remark about beautiful brotherhood moment and decided all of them should split up in pairs for each table.<p>

However it was far from that remark since Natsu had trouble to start conversation, and Tsuna didn't start any. He noticed that Tsuna once in a while glanced at him, it somewhat unnerved him. Natsu glanced at the fartest occupied table, Yagami was eating alone with his phone out on the table, once in a while it vibrated and he messaged back after a few chews. The nearest one was occupied by the cousins, Takeshi and Suoh was eating together. Suoh was eating gracefully and calmly while Takeshi was absentmindedly cutting his steaks and hadn't stop talking since the food arrived. Chrome and Nokoru took the table next to the cousin's and were chatting animatedly with each other.

Natsu glanced at the cousin pair again and wondered if he and Tsuna looked awkward to them, "I wonder what they're talking about."

"Suoh-kun and Takeshi?" Natsu almost jumped, he didn't expect Tsuna to respond so quickly. Tsuna sighed at that, "Their other cousin I suppose..."

* * *

><p>Suoh cut his salmon steak with practiced and smooth slash, listening to his distantly related cousin pouring in the details of his ongoing problem with their other distantly related cousins. Suoh almost pitied Takeshi, almost since with a kaichou like Sawada Tsunayoshi, Takeshi should count his blessing. He had no luxury of diligent kaichou who obediently sit in his office for paperwork, Nokoru worked when forced or his mood was good.<p>

Suoh scoffed as he finished chewing his food, "Sei-niisan have been like that since... " He paused, "Forever... there is a reason why his parents are scared of him."

Takeshi nodded in agreement, his steak was so finely cut it looked like minced meat. "But still... he should cut me some slack. He traumatized first to third string players of basketball club almost in_ daily _basis... the poor guys... "

The younger boy sighed, "One of many thing we never sign up for when we become part of student council, I definitely didn't sign up to keep kaichou stamping his paperwork." He paused again, "But what else is new?"

* * *

><p>"They're close..." Natsu couldn't help but commented when Takeshi patted Suoh's shoulder as the younger boy looked exasperated for some reason. "Like brothers..."<p>

Tsuna smiled at that, "You should see him with Hayato..."

"..."

"Natsu... " Tsuna called, "Are you worried about something?"

The younger twin flinched, "Nothing." He lied, and he knew that Tsuna knew he lied.

" A lot then..." Tsuna nodded solemnly, "I have promised to not pry Natsu, but looking at how you fared in the last few weeks I find myself regretting to let you holed up in your problem."

"..." Natsu stabbed his steak, "What do you want me to say?"

Tsuna smiled bitterly at that, "But in the other hand who am I to pry?" Tsuna wondered as he put down his eating utensils, "We have been separated for so long so I think... " Tsuna looked apologetic and Natsu felt like he was a bad guy here. "It's not strange you think this way 'you don't know anything about me' but aren't you forgetting something Natsu?"

"What?" His voice was close to a snarl now.

"You don't know anything about me for the last two years either." Tsuna pointed out with mischievous smile. "Aren't we in stalemate here?"

Natsu was bewildered at this sudden shift of behavior, he looked nothing like the mature and charismatic Kaichou Natsu knew. In fact he looked so childish, and was baiting Natsu. "So uh... you're up to something Tsuna? If this is your idea to make me spill my problem out to you, it's not working." Natsu pouted at his older twin.

Tsuna just smiled at that, "I am trying... and nope, I am not coaxing you to spill." He corrected, "I am just trying to get you to loose up."

"Same thing..." Natsu countered then sighed, "Fine... but don't laugh at my lame problem."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "I doubt something lame could trouble my brother."

Natsu snorted, then he said. "I admire someone... " He began hesitantly, "No... it's closer to hero worship actually, and I am being an idiot for wanting to be the same as him. I can't be as good as him, disappointing everyone around him with behaving like a half-baked imitation, driven to the corner, then I went back to Japan to nurse my bruised ego." He summarized his episodes of life in Italy.

Tsuna blinked owlishly at Natsu, "What did you want to be like our father?"

"Why not?" Natsu shot back then he flinched, "How do you know it's Tou-san?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow at Natsu, "I am so obvious, it's almost sad..." He concluded.

"What did you want to be like our father?" Tsuna repeated again.

Natsu snorted, "Tsuna... you don't like Tou-san so you don't or you won't know his good side.."

Tsuna smiled at that, chuckling lightly. "I am afraid my opinion of him have nothing to do with your hero-worship or wanting to be just like him." Tsuna took a deep breath, "And you are mistaken about something." His eyes narrowed, "Credit where credit's due... Tou-san have his bad and good points, and added with how long I haven't seen him, and how long you have been with him... he must have been worthy of your respect for you to admire him so, and I have no right to deny that."

Natsu once again stared at his older twin in bewilderment, Tsuna was a very fair person and frighteningly so. He had heard about what Tsuna had done to Shamal from Reborn, while the pervert should see that coming Natsu was bewildered Tsuna would outright fired someone who nursed him to health that time. According to Reborn while it's pretty rude, a call of duty sometimes preceded even manners. It didn't matter Shamal was Natsu's personal doctor, he will judged as fairly as any other faculty member. That was how a leader should act, and how Natsu should act too.

The younger twin scoffed, "But you asked why I..."

Tsuna shook his head, "I just thinks that you're not Sawada Iemitsu and sees no reason for you to be him regardless of you holding him in high regards..."He trailed off, "And so..."

"If you are going to say something like 'just be yourselves' that taken straight from cheesy romance novel." Natsu cut his brother off, "Forget it."

The older twin raised an eyebrow, "What make you think I would say that? To tell you the truth in my opinion you may not even know yourself enough to pull this 'just be yourselves' Natsuhiko."

"I think I lost you in 'may not' Tsuna." Natsu said testily.

Tsuna chuckled softly at Natsu's ire, how his emotion was written all over his face. "I mean... someone as young as us couldn't understand themselves sometimes... have ever heard of teenage rebellion?" Tsuna asked jokingly, "Sudden desire to rebel to every rule in our live when we're in puberty stage..."

"... You talk like you've been through that." Natsu muttered wryly.

"I am sure I have not..." Tsuna admitted sheepishly, "But some older senpai that have been through this stage told me they didn't really understand why they rebel, before they knew it they had done it."

"I thought you're a kaichou not Counselor." Natsu drawled with skeptical eyes on his twin.

Tsuna looked depressed at that, "Our counselor is in indefinite leave that our headmaster won't give me the details about for some reasons." There was a vein that almost popped on his temple, "Let's don't talk about this now." And they dropped the issue, "At any rate the only solution I can give is... stop trying to be our father." Natsu was about to open his mouth in protest, "Doesn't mean you should stop looking up to him Natsu... "

Natsu sighed in resignation, in the end his brother told him to not become his father. He had spent most of his life trying to be just like him, and now he was kicked out to open ocean without destination. "So what should I do?"

"Find yourself of course..." Tsuna replied with all conviction he could muster.

Natsu moaned, "You made it sound easy."

"Actually I think it would be easier to you than how it have been to me Natsu..." Tsuna said as smiling softly.

"Why?"

Tsuna laughed softly, "It's just... to find yourself to do what you want for a start, and I am asked to do this... I keep confusing what I _should_ with what I _want _to do..."

It's not that much stretch of imagination that Tsuna would mix those two up, Natsu thought. He had been always an obedient child and eager to please everyone, that Natsu wondered in their childhood Tsuna had ever had fun at all. He in the other was more free spirited and childishly selfish, his childhood was a happy one. "I guess... and then what?"

Tsuna smiled at his impatience, "Someone told me... A child always dream of they want to be this and that when they grow up, but in the end all children grew up to be themselves and no one else..." He trailed off, "But first of all you should find yourselves that you would come to love..."

"..." No one had ever said that to him, something like to know himself more before become this true self. Even father said Natsu should be himself and be happy, oblivious that his son didn't even know his true self after spending most of his life in his father's shadow. Of all people it was Tsuna who he thought know nothing about him, someone who've been so clueless of what happened in the last two years.

"Tsuna... I feel like an idiot now... " To be so worked up over their non existent relationship for the last two years and underestimating his brother who understood him better than anyone.

"That's a start." Tsuna beamed at his younger twin, "I also felt like that before."

Natsu blinked owlishly, "Before?"

* * *

><p>Reborn had been sitting on the nearby electrical pole withe excellent view of the restaurant and Natsu's table. The hitman smirked mischievously as he spying on the conversation with Leon spying set. As expected of a Kaichou who had been drilled on his office with long line of problematic student would do wonder for Natsu, but more than anything he was an older brother of Natsu.<p>

That annoying brat would be noisy again for sure.

Speaking of being noisy... those two who arrived few minutes ago had been so noisy, what a rowdy duo. They came faster than scheduled date Reborn received from his spy network, then again always expect the unexpected with a back up plan was his motto. He readied his Leon gun with a smirk, Natsu would be mad his dinner was interrupted but this would be a perfect chance to see how he will fare with mafia related business when civilians and his brother was in vicinity.

In the alley near Electrical pole Reborn perched on two shadowy figures were arguing, "Ne... Shishou (master/teacher) why should I become a back up? We're just dealing with a green mafia boss in training!" A feminine voice whined.

"Shut up Chinatsu!" The rough voice of a man growled, "It's Vongola's mafia boss in training... who knows what kind of peoples Vongola put to protect that kid, so we should split in two... I charge in to where that kid is dining and you sweep outside to make sure no reinforcement will help him."

Chinatsu sighed, "Hai!"

Reborn scowled, "A girl..." Just like the informant said, this would put damper on his test because Natsu was chivalrous and won't hit a girl. Well... he just need to make sure the girl did her job without coming in contact with Natsu. And with that in mind Reborn flew off with Leon balloon while Chinatsu went inside the tallest building across the restaurant.

* * *

><p>Tsuna suddenly stiffened and turned around sharply to the window where the tallest building across the restaurant could be seen, Natsu was startled when he saw Tsuna looked so tense for no reason. Nagi and Takeshi narrowed their eyes when they saw Tsuna's behavior, Takeshi fingered the handle of his Shigure Kintoki while Chrome put her hand on her pocket. Nokoru blinked owlishly at Tsuna but then continued drinking his tea as if nothing amiss, his eyes however glanced at Suoh who had shifted his grip on knife he used to eat. Yagami was still typing a message on his phone but he could feel everyone in the room was alert for some reason.<p>

"Tsuna?" Something was wrong, Natsu could tell that much but he couldn't put a finger to it.

* * *

><p>On the rooftop of the tallest building across the restaurant Chinatsu almost dropped sniper riffle of hers if not for the tripod that keep the heavy weapon in position. Her heart was beating loudly when that brown haired boy suddenly turned around as if he noticed she was there. It was pretty unnerving when you saw someone through the scope suddenly turn as if looking at you. "That scared me!" She almost wailed.<p>

**"What the hell happened?"** The voice of her teacher asked through the walkie-talkie she put by her side. **"If you can get a good look of people inside, we can just shot any teenage boy inside and be done with it!" **

Chinatsu shook her head, as if her teacher could see it through the walkie-talkie, "No Shishou! The waiter suddenly closed the curtain... but before that I am sure everyone inside save one girl are all boys!"

**"NANI?!"** He groaned, **"We should go inside in the end! Whatever! More blood means merrier! Our orchestra tonight would be so grand!" **

"Hai! Shihou!" Chinatsu agreed cheerfully, she licked her lips. "I feel bad for him but at least he won't be alone in heaven, his friends would be with him!"

The show was about to begin!

* * *

><p><strong>Cross OVER Chara info:<strong>  
><em>Chinatsu and her teacher are from Jormungand <em>

_Yagami Raito is an OC I modeled after the mix of good and evil Yagami Light of DeathNote _

_Imonoyama Nokoru and Takamura Suoh are from Clamp Detective School _

_Allen the clown is from DGM (take note I am just using his name actually, it's an OC but there would be something more about him later XDDD )_

**Ask Tsuna-kaichou corner is on halt for now but I will update it in few days... too many question to sort out.** **Please don't ask for spoiler! ****I beg you! **

**A/N**

**Unexpectedly of all people Chrome have a longer story than anyone save Gokudera for her reunion with Tsuna... I just like Hibari and Ryohei with their original background while Chrome I think can have something original ^^  
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**The meeting of Kaichous detail would be in next chap I cut that part off for next chap (it's 1.5K) the part I cut so...**

**And for those who said 'how hard it could be to update next chap' Oh, I can update 2K chapter every week if I want... but it would feel choppy end in every chapter and when I rush it the plot won't be as good. I never write in one go, sometimes I scroll up to change what I have written to make it better!  
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**Hopefully we can see Dino or Bianchi in the next chapter or a chapter after this one...  
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**Next Chap: Past (The Mist of Doubt part 2)  
>Future (Discordant Orchestra)<br>REVIEW**REVIEW****REVIEW**  
><strong>REVIEW<strong>**REVIEW**  
><strong>REVIEW<strong>  
><strong>REV<br>**R****  
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	7. 6th Axis

One sentence for the start of Author Note ^^

**SCREW THE ENDING CHAP OF KHR!**

**At any rate~ This story have to be upped for M, not for coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes... but violence.  
>Let's say someone's head is going to roll (literally) in this chapter and eh... it's mildly graphic. Or so I hope.<br>**

**And the very good news, you got to see little of Mukuro here in past chap :)  
><strong>In case you didn't notice, I finish drawing the cover for this story :D<strong>  
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**Enjoy the story!  
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**** Beta-ed by Crimsonpheonix271  
><strong>To those who still think this story have big problem with grammar after everything I did with help of my beta readers, by all means. Can you understand what's going on in my story? Can you? if you can, that means my story is readable. No one pay me and my beta readers to produce a story with perfect grammar. <strong>**  
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******Would you copy paste the 'grammatically wrong' part, fix it and then send it to me? If the answer is NO, then you have NO right to complain with what I can give you with the help of betas who did help me.  
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******You got that grammar nazi? END of discussion!  
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****Update 3-02-13: Summary of previous chap  
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Past: Tsuna at last found one of his mist, Chrome or rather known as Katou Nagi in this world is working as a magician in the circus! At first Tsuna thought Chrome was happy with her band of circus but turned out she was held prisoner by them. Tsuna vowed that he and his friends will save Nagi from the cruel circus.

Future: Tsuna had a heart to heart talk with his brother, and they manage to mend their relationship. The peaceful dinner in Tokyo Port with Natsu turned to be a dangerous night with Orchestra lurking in the darkness, with their gun aimed to his brother.****  
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><p><strong>Past: Unveiling Mist of Doubt<strong>

_"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."_**  
>(Anais Nin)<strong>

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><p><strong>Japan, Namimori Hospital<strong>

It was surprisingly easy for them to dig up information about Phantasma Circus and Katou Nagi's father. Takeshi was half-joking when he said that they could try 'Google' to look for some info. Innocenti was skeptical after he made a call to his contacts to dig up some info, but he was just wasting time. The colorful haired scientist almost slammed his head on the screen when he found 'Katou Touichi'***** on the top of the search list. Judging from his peculiar purple eyes, it was easy to recognize him as Nagi's deceased father. The info was neither much nor detailed, but it told them enough probable reasons the owner of the circus was holding Nagi hostage. Katou Touichi was a world-class magician, one famed for his numerous original tricks. He was a unparalleled magician until an accident happened in one of his show and he lost his life along with his wife who was his assistant back then. It was a tragedy that shook magician world one year ago. It was unsettling though, that while the news of Katou couple's death was announced so brazenly all over the net, not even one mentioned their daughter. It seemed like the world couldn't be careless of the missing daughter. They were more concerned about the missing document that contained all the original tricks Katou Touichi had created throughout his career. The very same document Phantasma Circus mistreated Nagi for.

Apparently that document would fetch them a lot of money, which Innocenti's estimation price made Hayato, Takeshi, Tsuna and Rin choke. Innocenti rolled his eyes at their shocked expression, "How much do you think a ticket to Katou Touichi's show cost huh? I went once, and even _I _think it's expensive." They choked again, Innocenti was very rich that he could choose his clients. For Innocenti to think a mere ticket to be expensive... "It cost at least three times of other world class magician, it's worth it though." He sighed, "And about this Phantasma Circus..."

The info about Phantasma Circus came from Innocenti's informant. The information they received made Tsuna's blood ran cold. Phantasma Circus was actually a criminal group that operate under a wandering circus cover. They specialized in stealing and child trafficking. They would performed like any other normal circus for most of their stay in one city and doing their real job in the shadow. It was very easy for them to smuggle their plunder with the caravan. Children trafficking was the most profitable business of theirs, usually one of their clowns or other performers would wait around place children frequenting in under pretense of advertising their circus to lure the children and then kidnap one or two children. So far there was no solid proof of their crimes even though law enforcers all over the world suspected Phantasma Circus, they were good at hiding their tracks, and sometimes they went as far as committing a crime in neighboring city of the one they visited to throw police off track.

Innocenti and Rin were downright furious, that an orphan like Nagi was in the hand of the worse group of scum that ever walked the earth. On the other hand they couldn't report this to the police. When Hayato asked why they couldn't, Innocenti pointed out that if reporting them could solve the problem, the circus would have been caught long ago. There's also the incident a day before that put the circus in high alert, they had been inspected for the beast tamer's death. Innocenti also pointed out that they was experienced enough to not worry even if police ransacked their tent and caravan thoroughly. There's also a concern that if the police did find Nagi, the circus was holding her clown friend hostage and they would put her in a worse position. There's no telling what the criminal group would do to Nagi and her friend if they were cornered by police.

"So, we have to get Nagi and her friend out of there by ourselves?" Tsuna asked in the calmest voice he could muster, but inside he was edgy about putting his friends in danger.

Innocenti nodded, "We have to do it by tonight, right after their last show." The scientist explained, "Why? Because they would be tired by that time so even if we have to confront them it would be more advantageous to our side." At worried look Tsuna had on his face, Innocenti added hurriedly. "Of course we should avoid direct conflict! This is a stealth mission!"

His sister nodded in agreement, her fist raised, "Infiltrate their place without a sound, look for your friends, and get out of there before they noticed a thing!"

"Easier said than done!" Hayato protested.

No one disagreed with him, "I don't want any of us to get hurt." Tsuna stated, and everyone's attention was drawn to him. "But I can't leave Nagi there either, everyone wants to help her out of that horrible place too..."

Takeshi grinned, "Of course we do! Believe me Tsuna, we will get her out of there in no time!"

Hayato glared at Takeshi, the baseball idiot stole the best line! "We will save her! I will blast those scum to kingdom come!"

The silver haired boy yelped when Innocenti gave a hard chop to his head, "Idiot! Did you listen to what I said! It's stealth mission! Your dynamite is not stealthy! So I will confiscate those and you have to use something else!"

"EH?!" Hayato was not happy his exploding sticks (as Takeshi lovingly called it) were replaced by Innocenti, but for Tsuna's and Nagi's sake, he would endure it.

Innocenti sighed as Hayato looked at his dynamite longingly, "Fine! You can bring some! Just make sure to not use it unless we have to!" He turned to the rest of them. "It's decided then!" Innocenti announced grandly, "Their show will end by ten o'clock!" The colorful haired scientist grinned as he fished out five familiar tickets. "As disgusting as it is to watch those scums performing, we're going to endure it and we strike when they're at their weakest!"

* * *

><p><strong>Japan, Phantasma Tent (9:45 PM) <strong>

They were watching the last show which was Nagi's magic show. It seemed Nagi had recovered from the ordeal to perform tonight, but who knows if it was forced on her. But nevertheless it relieved Tsuna that Nagi was well enough to perform tonight, that meant easier to sneak her out. Since the Whiteface clown was nowhere to be seen, Tsuna guessed that he was still injured. Tsuna recalled the ringmaster called the clown by the name Allen. They're going to sneak him out together with Nagi too tonight. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, it was like he was missing something. But what? There's also this familiar feeling, no a presence. Something? Someone? This sensation had been nagging him since he wake up in hospital, but he couldn't put his fingers on it.

"I have a question." Hayato's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

Takeshi laughed at that, "I think I also want to ask the same thing." It was obvious what Hayato wanted to ask, and Takeshi agreed he felt the same.

Tsuna sweat-dropped at the two, wasn't it a bit too late to ask that now? "The more, the merrier!" Rin chirped, she was lonely that her noisy nephew was not here. But there's no way she would bring him to watch a circus group that kidnapped children and sold them.

Lambo was entrusted to Nana for tonight. Tsuna was glad for Rin's insight, they had to leave Lambo out of this plan after all. He also need a distraction for his mother from his absence tonight. It was a good thing his mother always went to bed early that it almost childlike of her. Tsuna heard Nana fell asleep with Lambo after the cow child exhausted her with playing. Speaking of falling asleep, he supposed to be sleeping in hospital now. Hopefully the pillow with wig could fool the nurse until tomorrow morning.

"Hn."

The brunette boy gulped as he felt murderous aura behind him intensify tenfold, it seemed the one who sat behind him didn't agree with Rin. Hayato glared at the one who sat behind Tsuna, and he desperately hoped Hayato won't cause a commotion. "Why you're here?" Cold grey eyes glanced at Hayato before turning away, "Hibari."

He ignored Hayato's fuming, the silver haired boy was angry but he wouldn't cause a commotion that would screw up their whole plan. Hibari Kyouya lifted his chin, and then looked at Tsuna who had titled his face so Hibari could see his profile. Tsuna smiled, there was something in Hibari's eyes that he could interpret as a command he would be more than happy to oblige. "Thank you Hibari-san." Hibari raised an eyebrow at him, "For coming." He added.

The skylark scoffed, "Don't be mistaken, I am here to punish the detestable herd of herbivores that dared to taint Namimori with their presence. I have no intention to help you."

Tsuna smiled at that as he translated the Hibari-nese as 'I am here to beat up those criminals so out of my way and go safe your friend.' Hibari scoffed as he turned his face away from Tsuna, Hayato scowled at Hibari for being rude while Takeshi as usual laughed at them. Tsuna just sighed as he accepted Hibari was just being the aloof cloud he was. It was comforting Hibari went to a such crowded place to help them. Then again there was so little people compared to when he came before, it was understandable people would be scared after what happened. There was barely a half of the seats that occupied.

"By the way Innocenti, you bought five tickets right?" Hayato whispered to the scientist who sat beside him.

"If you're going to ask how the boy got his, I have to admit it's from me." Innocenti rolled his eyes. "He overheard me when I made a call to buy the ticket, and _ordered_ me to get him one too."

Hayato sweat-dropped at that, "Not you too, bending to his will by force."

"Would you prefer that a mature man like me to hit an eleven year old boy?" Innocenti asked logically. "And an extra help never hurt." He added.

Overheard Innocenti-san? Hibari was in hospital this afternoon? That explained the feeling of being watched he felt. "Eh?" Hibari was very skilled in stealth when he didn't want to be seen. How did he know he was being watched then? Could it be? Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, "Nah..." He'd better not getting his hope up, he had better things to worry about now.**۵**

**"And that is the end of our show tonight! Thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen."**

That was their cue to move.

"Let's go."

**(10:30 PM) **

It was surprisingly easy to sneak in, with the dim lighting of the tent backstage and majority of performers were resting in their room. Of course there were some unfortunate souls that ran to Hibari, fortunately Hibari understood the importance of stealth for Tsuna team. Tsuna and co watched Hibari knocked the man Tsuna recognize as one of the trapeze artist out in record time. The man didn't even have a chance to utter a sound.

Hibari was always a strong fighter, even if he was twelve years old. It was unnerving a child his age moved the way an experience assassin would, swift and deadly. Innocenti was fed up with Hibari taking the circus member out one by one and interfered when Hibari was about to finish his sixth victim. Innocenti would have been the next target if not for Tsuna who started to question the man Kyouya pinned to the ground.

"Where's Nagi-chan?" Tsuna asked with the calmest voice he could muster, while inside he was boiling.

The man was one of the clown Tsuna met before, his clown make up was a mess after his struggle with Hibari. "Hmph!" The clown chewed his lips, glaring at the two boys hovering above him.

His tightly closed mouth was open as easily as Hibari applied enough pressure that almost cut off his oxygen supply. "Answer him." Hibari ordered.

The clown looked at Hibari, at his cold steel eyes especially. There was no hesitation, the boy was serious about crushing his windpipe . His panicked eyes darted to someone else, anyone but the steel eyed boy. His eyes landed on Tsuna and for a moment he was lost in that pool of golden orb, he didn't know which was pressuring him more, the iron grip that threatened to crush his windpipe or the flame he saw burning on the boy's eyes. In the end he opened his mouth, told them the shortest route to the magician's girl room and embraced the darkness the steel eyed boy generously granted with digging his foot on stomach and twist it like crushing a bug.

* * *

><p>Nagi wiped the accumulated sweat on Allen's temple, the white haired man was feverish and moaning in his sleep. It seemed the wound Allen received from them was infected. Nagi had begged the ring master to bring Allen to hospital, but Thomas Fudge couldn't be careless of what happened to Allen. As far as the ringmaster was concerned, Allen was better of dead, and she would break faster and might spill about the document they wanted so much. They went through quite a lot of trouble to kidnap her from the funeral of her parents, even as far as faking her death. At first Nagi thought someone would have found out she was still alive, but after weeks and then months under their grasp Nagi came to the painful realization that her death was desirable to some people so no one bothered to look for her. Without the legal heir of Katou Touichi, the document was a fair game.<p>

"Ugh..." The sleeping man groaned when he felt something wet fell to his face.

The dark haired girl wiped her tears from Allen's face carefully so she wouldn't wake him up. She couldn't lose him, Allen was the only friend she had in this circus that cared for her. He was a stray the ringmaster picked up from the street. No one knew where he'd come from, but his arrival a few months ago gave Nagi hope to keep living. Now that she met the kind boss from her dream, they could be saved! For many nights she prayed for this suffering to end, even if it's a small glimmer of hope she would cling to it.

"Allen-san... hang on. We will get out of here soon." She encouraged him.

Nagi almost jumped when she heard clinking sound coming from the door, then hushed whispers also coming from another side of the door. Nagi clutched the wet towel to her chest as tears threatened to escape when the door slowly opened. Nagi never felt so happy to see someone open the door to her bedroom before, before she could only feel dread whenever the door opened but now...

"Chrome? Nagi-chan?" Familiar spiky brown hair peeked from behind the door, then she could see her awaited savior. Sawada Tsunayoshi looked at her with gentle eyes, his smile as warm as one she remembered from her dream. "Chrome, thanks goodness." He reached out to her, and she could see more familiar faces popped up behind him. Even the aloof cloud-person was with them. From the corner of her eyes she saw a colorful haired person go to Allen's bed and hoisted her clown friend onto his back. "Let's go, Chrome. Welcome back to the family."

For the first time since she was captured, Chrome felt no hesitation in her being as she accepted that warm hand and embraced the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Vongola Decimo's world <strong>

Tsuna had been called a lot of things and with someone with a reputation like his, he was unofficially the saint of the mafia or what they so lovingly _and_ ironically titled him as _Il Santo di Cielo.**۷** _Thus everyone expected him to be the shining example of goodness, much to his chagrin. Even so, Tsuna was no saint, and he definitely couldn't suppress his annoyance at Shouichi's proposal at how he'd be responsible of his recent reckless action.

"Shouichi… " Tsuna began softly, "I recall I asked you to fix _whatever_ mess you and Byakuran have caused, not adding it."

"I know but… there is nothing much we can do." Shouichi replied timidly, gripping the clipboard on his arms like it was some sort of shield that could protect him from Tsuna. "I just want to…"

Tsuna tapped his forefinger against mahogany desk of his study room, a habit he adopted when he became impatient. "I have to decline the approval for your proposal." He stated firmly which earned a flinch from the genius mechanic, "I know I am being unreasonable when I asked _you_ one way or another to be responsible of this mess you and Byakuran made in _another_ world."

"I…"

"Because there is no way you can directly interfere with another world." Tsuna finished with a sigh, "Byakuran also gave me 'my parallel self won't help us' and some other irresponsible excuses…" Tsuna grumbled. "Knowing Byakuran, his parallel self never cared about what's going on there… heck they don't even care about what happens to their alternate selves!" In which the Ghost incident spoke a lot of how much Byakuran cared.

Shouichi rubbed the bridge of his nose, "But still… I don't want to wash my hands off of this, even though it's foolish of me. Please approve this proposal of mine!"

"Shouichi…" Tsuna began but stopped when the mechanic suddenly kneeled on the ground and his forehead touched the carpeted floor. "Shouichi! What are you doing?!"

"Please! Please! Approve this proposal, I beg you! Please Tsuna!" He begged desperately.

Tsuna groaned, "Shouichi! You really…" It was very likely Shouichi wouldn't leave that lovely spot until he approved the dreaded proposal. "Shouichi… you know it would be you who suffers the most for doing this."

"I know."

"It's like repeating your past mistakes all over again." Tsuna warned him again.

"Yes."

"And you'll still go through this?" Tsuna asked incredulously.

Shouichi looked up to Tsuna then nodded, "Yes."

Tsuna sighed, "Reborn is going to berate me for being too soft again …" He grumbled under his breath but loud enough for the red head to hear. "Very well Shouchi… I approve your proposal." He said with thinly veiled reluctance.

"Thank you!" Shouichi said as he excused himself and exited the room with better mood than he had had for the last few months.

Tsuna rubbed his temple as his head mechanic closed the door of his office with a soft noise. The moment he could sense Shouichi's sun flame were distant enough, the tenth boss leaned back and released a tired sigh. Decimo didn't even bat an eye when the white haired sky stepped out from behind the gold colored curtain.

"I can't believe he didn't notice you there at all." Tsuna said in an exasperated tone.

Byakuran beamed, "Don't underestimate my stealth, Tsunayoshi-kun!"

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "Whatever... we're not discussing your skill in stealth..." Tsuna stated with narrowed eyes, "Do you think our meddling is for the better?"

The white haired man shrugged as he took his seat across the Vongola, "I would like to think so." He flinched at the look Tsuna shot at him, voicing a displeasure and promise of painful consequences. "Maa! What do you expect me to do?! My hands are tied here!"

"Being responsible would be a start." Tsuna pointed out loftily, "This whole mess was started by you!"

Byakuran glared at Tsuna, which returned by the brunette with equal intensity. "I didn't ask one of my alternate selves to be so sick! Who would ask that upon your alternate self?!"

"It doesn't justify you to trick Shouichi-kun to help you, and without telling him the real reason to boot! And not behind my back! All I ask is for you to tell me and not playing master mind! I am sick of that game and you know it!" Tsuna snapped hotly, Byakuran just gritted his teeth. There's nothing he could retort to that."Look!" The golden eyed sky slammed his hands on his mahogany desk, "I know you and Shouichi feel guilty for the whole mess back then."

"A mess that involved millions of parallel worlds Tsunayoshi-kun." Byakuran reminded his fellow sky, calling the cluster of homicides a mess was putting it too lightly. Tsuna of all people wouldn't take it lightly, even if fabric of reality was mended as if the whole 'mess' never happened. It happened, and he caused it, no excuse. The Vongola was just being considerate to him, though he of all people thought he never deserved it.

Tsuna shook his head, "You know what the Trinisette do to its wielder... especially the true owners like us." He rested his face against his palm, whenever the rings and pacifier involved it exhausted him in mind and body. "The only blessing Trinisette bestowed upon us was the power to face the trouble it started."

Byakuran snorted, "That's one way to put it, the balance Trinisette protected for so long is already shaky to begin with..."

Tsuna closed his eyes, his fingers laced together. "Now I'm understanding what my Ten Years Later was thinking back then."

The fellow sky just shrugged, "There must some sick sense of karma working here..." He said, earning another eye roll from Tsuna, "I just hope our alternate selves didn't think our memories as some sort of freebies." Byakuran muttered dryly.

"If they knew why you did this, I guess they would be torn between grateful and wanting to kill you." The tenth boss pointed out with a sigh.

Byakuran laughed nervously at the prospect of meeting another Tsuna who would want to kill him, that one traumatizing experience should be a _once_ in a life time opportunity. "Ha ha ha it's a good thing I proved that it's impossible to travel between parallel worlds then!" At least not without destroying the whole world, and your alternate self reduced to Dying Will Flames draining mutant.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "Right~"

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><p><strong>Back in parallel world.<strong>

**Japan,** **Phantasma Circus (10:40 PM)**

Rin grinned as she sprayed her special perfume on the unsuspecting animals, their eyes fluttered shut and fell asleep faster than you could say Reborn! A file was tucked safely under her arms, it was quite hard to steal a document that contained proof of their shady deals. Who would suspect the ringmaster hid it in the bottom of his drawer? Right beneath piles of neatly folded boxers of his to boot? Too bad for the ringmaster that Ottaviarina Sunny had _no_ qualms rummaging through a man's closet.

She checked her weapon supply, her fragrant gauntlets and noted the container of her cartridge slot was already empty. The fragrance user frowned when she realized she had run out of Super Relaxation Fragrance. She had used it on animals and circus members she ran to. She sighed tiredly, this meant her brother's team better be done with rescuing Tsuna's friend because the next circus scum she ran to would be dealt with lethal force.

Her eyes narrowed as she dodged the whip that barely missed her feet. Rin turned around, scowling at the burly man who was grinning maniacally at her. "Hello sweetheart, would you like a date with me tonight?" He asked with a leer.

Rin scoffed, speaking of the devil. "With a barbarian that likes to hurt kids?" She snorted mockingly, "I don't think so!"

The man grinned, "Too bad, but I love to tame a girl more than taming bears." The newly revealed bear trainer aimed his whip at Rin again, which easily dodged by the agile Italian who jumped high in the air. "Fool! You have nowhere to run now!"

The short haired girl smirked, "No need to run if you eat THIS! **Devil Durian Fragrance**!"

The bear trained gasped when yellowish smoke covering his sight, however it was not the worse part, a very foul stanch invaded his nostril. The burly man was lucky he was knocked out cold and didn't have to endure breathing the foul stench for too long. Rin smirked as the smoke thinned out, revealing the burly man twitching on the floor and frothing at the mouth.

"Rin!" The fragrance user grinned when she spotted her brother and companions were running to her direction. "How is it?"

She grinned at her brother and gave him a V sign, and her other hand showed the document she stole."I found it! Can you imagine? That fatty ringmaster hid it beneath fake base of his underwear drawer!"

Innocenti blanched, "Rin! You... ransacked a man's closet? His underwear drawer to boot?!"

Rin rolled her eyes, "For your information, I put my glove on before I did it."

"Disgusting!" Innocenti yelled."And what's this lingering stench?! RIN! How many time I told you to _not_ use that fragrance when I am in one mile radius?!"

"Shut up Innocenti!" Hayato hissed, "Remember stealth!"

Innocenti flushed a bit, pinching his nose with one hand since he was carrying Allen. "Pardon me then..."

Rin sighed as she eyed her flamboyant brother, the white haired man on his back, and the three kids. Tsuna was holding Nagi's hand, how cute! It seemed the girl was timid off stage and clung to Tsuna's arm as if it was her lifeline. Hayato still had that scowl on his face and their resident baseball idiot was... EH? Rin's eyes widened when she counted again, "Uhm... brother, where's Takeshi and that skylark boy?"

"..." Innocenti turned around and counted, he had Tsuna, Hayato and Nagi with them. "Eh? Eeeeeeeeeh?!" How the hell did he lose two brats?!

"SHUT UP!" Hayato roared.

"Hayato!" Tsuna hissed in alarm, "You're louder than him!" He warned the bomber.

"Sorry Tsuna-sama!" Hayato flushed a deep red.

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><p>Yamamoto Takeshi sighed as he buried the tip of his shinai at the man's stomach, the man gagged before he fell ungracefully at Takeshi but the young swordsmen stepped aside just in time to let the man help himself to the hard and cold floor. He rubbed the back of his head; it was not his fault the adult was too eager to run at his shinai. Sound of painful cracking bones alerted Takeshi that Kyouya had just finished his seventeenth victim for tonight. He at first followed Hibari when the older boy quietly sneaked away from their group so he could bring Hibari back, but Hibari ran very fast. The next thing he knew the others were nowhere to be seen and Hibari started beating up every circus member he came across.<p>

"Hibari..." Takeshi called out, "Let's go back now! I am understand you want to clean Namimori up, but we don't have to beat all of them up." Another man fell, that was the eighteenth victim. "You could get hurt if you keep going!"

Hibari glared at the younger boy, "Go back yourself, my well being is no concern of yours."

"It's my concern because Tsuna would be sad if you got hurt." Takeshi retorted, his eyes narrowed at Hibari.

"It's none of his business either." Hibari snapped back, faltering a bit when the name of herbivore he so grudgingly respect was mentioned.

Takeshi sighed, "It's Tsuna, if we get hurt he would be sad. With or without your permission."

Hibari growled, "Meddling herbivore..."

"Act aloof all you want Hibari, but we really should go back now. So far we're lucky we ran to unarmed peoples." The swordsman pointed out, "What if we run into someone with a gun?" Takeshi pointed out.

CLICK

"Like this one, kid?" A sinister voice said.

Takeshi's eyes narrowed, and then he looked up and gasped in shock. The man who pointed the gun at Takeshi followed his example, wondering what the boy was looking at only to find the boring ceiling. The next thing he knew something dull was rammed to his stomach and he had to let go of the boy, pulling the trigger and accidentally making a hole on the ceiling of the tent. Then man gasped in pain as he held his belly, glaring murderously at the boys.

"I told you!" Takeshi said to Hibari.

"Brat! Die!" The man pulled the trigger but as the sound of trigger reached his ears he saw something metalic jammed to his gun. "AARGH!" The main yelped as his gun exploded and injured his hands.

Takeshi cringed at how much blood the man had on his hand, his breathing became erratic and he desperately beg his heart to calm down. Hibari suddenly hit him on the shoulder and Yamamoto yelped in pain, his eyes found Hibari's with silent question. "Get a hold of yourself, this man was fully intended to take your life... small injury means nothing compared to that."

Yamamoto Takeshi blinked owlishly, his breathing calmed down and he didn't feel like his heart was about to burst anytime soon. Takeshi grinned at Hibari who kicked the man on his face, effectively knocked the gun owner out. Takeshi couldn't help but fascinated at what was left of the gun he jammed with the kunai his father had given him as birthday present. "Oh! Flower! So it's not just in the movie that gun could bloom if we jammed the tube!"

Kyouya stared at Takeshi then to the gun 'flower' on the ground. "Hn." Fascinating, so that really would happen if someone jammed the tube.

The two boys were fascinated by the gun flower and none of them could dodge when someone with a speed of light chopped their heads from behind, "Not HN! What the hell are you're doing here?! And why's the path is littered with disgusting bodies?!"

Kyouya glared at Innocenti, "I will bite you to death."

Tsuna and co who followed Innocenti paled when they saw what kind of face Innocenti made. Innocenti was a calm and collected man, but when he was angry even Hayato would cry and beg for forgiveness from him. Innocenti's lips curved up to a sadistic smile and before Hibari could move, the colorful haired man grabbed his head. Hibari tried to strike the offending hand but Innocenti didn't bulge even an inch under the assault.

"Listen skylark boy..." Innocenti hissed as Hibari froze under his icy eyes, "I don't care about your personal vendetta against law offenders. but think '_before'_ you act! What's with this biting business?! Are you a dog with rabies?!" Hibari glared murderously at Innocenti. "If not, act like a civilized human! We're going to get out of here, but thanks to you we have to take a detour!"

"..."

Innocenti eyed the bloody flower gun with distaste, "I suspect this man is the first armed one you ran to, this means they started to notice somethings wrong and it's very likely because you took out too many of their members!" Innocenti pointed out, "Do you have any idea how dangerous this situation is?!"

Takeshi hung his head in shame, he should have tried harder to bring Hibari back. "I am so sorry!"

Tsuna shook his head as he placed a comforting arm on Takeshi's shoulder. "Don't apologize Takeshi, knowing you... I can roughly guess why you ended up following Hibari-san."

"But!" Takeshi protested.

Hayato scoffed, "Beside... it's not a right time to be sorry, after we get out, you can be sorry all you want."

Innocenti sighed as he let go of glaring Hibari, the skylark would have try to attack Innocenti but he was well aware he was the one in the wrong here. Of course the herbivores could just walk away and leave him taking care of his business, but it's logical for the adult to not leave any of them without supervision. They were inside a tent of criminals; no sensible adult would leave kids here on their own. But still...

He could bite the flamboyant man later; there were preys to bite now. "Hn."

Tsuna and co eyed the approaching crowd, with the infamous ringmaster leading them. Tsuna noted they were armed, though only a few of them were carrying guns. It was understandable considering their favorite crime. They were thieves and kidnappers, targeting children and weak civilian. They never needed fire arms, if anything their nomadic lifestyle made it hard for them to carry too many firearms. It didn't change the fact they were surrounded.

The ringmaster, Thomas Fudge sneered as he looked at them, Chrome hid herself behind Tsuna as she trembled in fear. No one missed her terrified face, one could only guess what the man had done to her. Tsuna glared at the ringmaster, a rare display of contempt was evident on his eyes.

"Hello dear Nagi." The ringmaster smiled at the terrified magician girl. "Naughty girl, sneaking out at night!" He shook his head, sighing haughtily. "My my... when you'll learn what will happen to you if you try to escape?"

Nagi's eyes were wide with fear as she recalled whip marks that marred her back and stomach. The first time she tried to escape they whipped her mercilessly, not hard enough to leave deep mark but painful enough to burn permanently on her mind. They had avoided visible areas that were not covered by her magician costume, since they earned a lot from her show. The scars were not fully healed yet, and even today she couldn't bear looking at them, even when bathing she averted her eyes from her body.

"I will not let you harm Nagi-chan anymore!" Tsuna's exclamation snapped Nagi out of her mind. She looked at Tsuna with wide eyes, and remembered this boy was the sky who gave her hope in the darkest moment of her life. He was here by her side, what could she possibly fear now? "Nagi-chan, go hide somewhere..."

"No!" Nagi covered her mouth, "I am sorry I yelled but I..." She stuttered, "I don't want to run... If I run now I don't deserve you boss. You gave me hope and courage, if I run away now I will never free to go back to your sky..."

Tsuna's eyes softened, "Nagi-chan..."

She rummaged through her jacket, her trembling fingers tightened on a unusual looking gun which cartridge contained a deck of cards. She turned to the one who had darkened her world, the man who had took her freedom, glaring at him and them with fiery determination as she pointed the card gun at them.

"I WILL NOT RUN AWAY FROM YOU ANYMORE!"

The ringmaster glared at the determined magician girl, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Nagi supposed to fear him, to a point she won't dare to step out of their tent without him. And yet... "I see... it's a shame Nagi-chan." He shook his head, sighing tiredly. "You're our main star and not to mention our ticket to a large sum of money, if only you knew where the Katou Document was."

Innocenti scowled, so this man knew Nagi had no idea where the document was but kept torturing her for his sick amusement? "You sick scum! Before, I thought I would leave you guys to root in prison but now I think it's justified to get a piece of you myself!"

"Agreed!" Hayato piped in. "I am going to blow you up to kingdom come!"

"If it's you guys, I think it's no problem to cut you up!" Everyone stared at Yamamoto's cheerful exclamation, was he alright on the head?

"Takeshi..." Tsuna called worriedly, what happened when they were separated?

The cheerful boy grinned, his eyes softened at the brunette. "I am fine, it's just... I decide to not hesitate to protect anymore! Don't worry! I will leave them alive!"

"I will bite herbivores who taint Namimori to death." Guess who.

Rin who was carrying Allen sighed, it was a good thing she was strong and the man she carried was very light. She readied her fragrance gauntlet, carefully sat Allen up against the wall. "Sadly I will fight in the sidelines, but I can still support you!"

Tsuna gulped, this was their first battle. It was not about victory or losing, it's to protect those he held dear. He looked at the orange gun in his hand, as memory of his conversation this afternoon with Innocenti crossed his mind.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

_"Here." Innocenti placed an orange colored gun, one with eerie resemblance of Reborn's. "I think this is good for you, from what I see from your training in archery with Hayato, you have a good eye for a marksman."_

_Tsuna's eyes went wide at the weapon, "This is..." _

_"I know it's unlikely we will be involved in a fight, but you would never know." The scientist pointed out, "Don't worry... this is a paintball gun. You won't kill anyone with this." _

_The brunette blinked owlisjly, the image of men playing games with colorful ink on their clothes came to mind. "Huh?"_

_"However..." Innocenti drawled, "This gun fires using high pressure gas, so even though it shots paint bullets... " He trailed off, "It stings like hell if they hit you." _

_"... So in the end it's still hurting people..." Tsuna muttered with a sigh, "I try to tell myself they're criminals, so it doesn't matter if we hurt them... but I..."_

_Innocenti shook his head, "Wrong."_

_"Eh?"_

_"When you hurt or kill someone what's on your mind is not they deserve it or not, but _why_ you do so in the first place." Innocenti muttered with crossed arms. "Is it for noble cause, your survival, money? It's fine if you don't want to hurt anyone even if they're the worse scum that ever walk on earth. However when you have to do it, you should do it without hesitation..."_

_"..."_

_"You may think I am crazy for telling a kid this, but you know... " Innocenti trailed off, "As long as you didn't hurt or kill because you want to do it... you're still human. View it as something you **have to** do, and never something **right** to do."_

* * *

><p>The battle was as expected, chaos. It all started with the ringmaster ordered his men to fire their guns, but unfortunately before they could pull the trigger dozens of dynamite sticks exploded in their face. Hibari sprung to action as he smashed his way through the mob, followed closely by Takeshi with his shinai. Hayato who was mid-range fighter stayed beside Tsuna, while Chrome didn't stray far from him. The magician girl fired her cards, it was amazing how the card was sharp enough to pin their opponents to the wall. Sometimes Chrome went as far as aiming for their arms, shoulders or legs, it was enough to wound them but not too deep. Tsuna was glad in spite of hating the circus members for torturing her, Chrome didn't want to go as far as killing them.<p>

Tsuna followed her example, aiming for exposed skin because it would hurt even more and after a few shots they backed away as yelping in pain. Most of the time Hibari knocked them out because they kept running to his direction when Tsuna drove them away. Tsuna could hear his heart beating loudly, and it was a struggle to stay conscious throughout the fight. He could do this! Yes! He could!

A man with clown make up sneaked up from behind, and grabbed Rin. "I gotcha!" His right hand was holding a knife close to Rin's neck, he missed and grazed her arm.

"Rin-neechan!" Tsuna gasped.

"Aww! Let me go!" Rin shrieked.

"Rin!" Innocenti yelled, "Let go of my sister! You disgusting clown!" The scientist roared as he fired and the paint bullet hit the clown's right eyes.

The clown yelped and let go of Rin, his arms flailing around and accidentally grabbed one of the fragrance container Rin attached to her belt. Rin gasped when she noticed what the clown had on his hand. "Oi! Put that down!"

The clown opened one unpainted eye, glaring at Rin. "He he he! Why should I?!"

Innocenti's eyes widened when he saw one of Rin's fragrance containers was stolen. "Oi! Put that down! It's dangerous!" Of all fragrance Rin had on him that clown had to grab that one?! "Give it back!"

The clown grinned, "As you wish!" He threw the bottle at Takeshi and Hibari who was busy fighting, thinking what inside was an explosive or some sort of dangerous acid.

Innocenti gasped, "That's not explosive! You idiot!"

Takeshi who always had a good instinct turned around, his eyes narrowed at the flying object that was thrown to his direction. He instinctively shifted his grip on shigure kintoki to the way he was holding a bat and swung his sword. Hayato gaped, of all peoples the stupid clown could throw that thing to he chose Takeshi? He would hit that thing like a home run without second thought! "Idiot! Don't hit it! That's Rin's BATTLE Fragrance!" Hayato tried to warn the baseball idiot.

CLANK!

Too late.

Takeshi blinked owlishly, "Eh? What was that just now?!"

By sheer miracle the container didn't break upon contact with hard steel of Shigure Kintoki, however it did break after Takeshi flung it back to the clown, and the liquid inside evaporated to gas right above his head. Rin had quickly moved away with Allen the moment she saw where the clown threw her bottle, she didn't want to get caught in that fragrance. The smoke was pink this time, and Rin confirmed the fear of which fragrance of hers the clown took.

"Oh boy..." Rin didn't want to imagine what would become of the clown after the smoke cleared.

The ringmaster who was unharmed because he was in the very back of the mob gaped at the pink smoke, "What is that smoke?" He muttered fearfully, he had lost two third of his men and now this?! Not to mention his armed men were knocked out cold, they were the priority target their assailant targeted first. The weapons they dropped were sliced and crushed by sword and tonfa. They were as good as losing the battle.

"He he he..." A maniacal laugh could be heard from the dissipating smoke.

Innocenti gulped, and Tsuna followed his example. "That can't be a good sign."

Rin cringed, "Oh please... that clown couldn't be a drug user right?" Her battle fragrance increased an animals will to battle. It affected the animal's central nervous system, making them violent while at the same time stimulating the body into its peak form. It also could be used on human though only in theory since she never tried it, but a test shown violent reaction with narcotics. "If he inhaled my battle fragrance... what's the chance of that?!"

"Quite high." Innocenti informed him, "Who knows what that clown looks like under that thick make up? And this is a den of criminals... do you think they're above drugs?" #

"Unlikely." Rin agreed.

The cloud of smoke dissipated, revealing the clown hunched over, his hand that was holding a knife hung limply by his side. "He he he..."

"Oh creepy!" Takeshi's casual comment didn't carry the cheery edge it usually had, the swordsman was tense, it seemed he was instinctively aware of what he had accidentally caused.

Innocenti and Rin gritted their teeth, "This is bad... " Rin muttered, "At this rate the one in danger is not just us but everyone in this tent."

Hayato raised an eyebrow at Rin, "What could a crazed clown do? We can just blow him up!"

Another clown approached the knife wielder clown hesitantly, "Oi! Volvo, are you on drugs again?"

"IDIOT!" Innocenti shouted in panicking voice, "Get away from him!"

"Ha?" The clown turned to Innocenti and then he felt pain, so swift that he could barely feel it. His eyes rolled to the side and he saw his own back and blood was sprouting from where his head was. The severed head rolled, horror was painted eternally on it.

"KYAAAAA!"

"HIEEEEEY!"

Tsuna froze when he saw so much blood spilled from the beheaded clown, while he was nowhere near Tsuna the boy felt like the blood was soaking his sight. Innocenti covered his eyes, "Don't look! Tsuna-kun!"

Rin did the same as she hugged both Takeshi and Hayato, shielding them from the bloody scene with her body. Hibari was forced by Innocenti to duck so the skylark didn't see it. The skylark might have no problem beating criminals until they were half dead, but Innocenti doubted the boy could stomach this. If the berserk clown was done with severing the head maybe it wouldn't be too bad but now he was gutting the corpse.

"Let's get out of here!" Innocenti ordered them then turned to the circus performers that stood frozen on their place. "Move SCUMS! Unless you want to meet the same fate!"

"Ha uh..." They stuttered before did as Innocenti said and ran like a flock of headless chicken.

Innocenti would have regretted telling them to run, if he knew their yelling and running attracted the berserk clown's attention. Tsuna and co were too shocked to move so Innocenti had to pick them up one by one, only Hibari was well enough to walk on his feet. The scientist barely noticed the clown running pass them and straight at the retreating performers. It was a massacre as the berserk clown tore his way through the crowd with his knife, the group would have been able to subdue the clown if they were not too busy running. With their backs to him, they were completely defenseless.

Rin gritted her teeth, readying her fragrance. "**Devil Durian Fragrance**:!" She shouted as she sprayed the yellow smoke at the berserk clown. As the smoke slowly dissipated she stood up, "Did I get him?"

"GAAAH! HA ha ha ha ha!"

"That's answer your question?" Innocenti asked his sister as he fired blindly into the smoke, and as the smoke dissipated they could see the clown was still laughing maniacally, his body covered in pain but he paid no mind. "Each shot should have stings like hell! He has lost it!"

"In.. innocenti..." The scientist gritted his teeth, Hayato must be worried that he was asked to not open his eyes unless he was told. "Can I open my eyes yet?" He asked fearfully.

"No!" Innocenti snapped, his eyes widened when he saw Tsuna opened his golden eyes and stared at the bloody carnage before them. "Tsuna! You shouldn't!"

Tsuna shook his head, his body trembled in fear but he didn't avert his eyes. "No... if I look away now." He would never change, "I will keep running away, and I won't be able to protect everyone." He said in trembling voice that by each moment grew steadier. "That's why I will not look away and fight!" Tsuna exclaimed as his tiny hands gripped the gun, aiming at the monster.

Hayato and Takeshi followed, "Tsuna is right, if we're going to face what's ahead we have to open our eyes."

"To follow Tsuna-sama I can't do that without my eyes open by his side." Hayato declared, "I want to be his right hand, that never change... zombie, crazy clown, bring it on!"

Hibari scowled, "As if I need herbivores covering my eyes. I will bite _that_ to death." He declared boldly.

Chrome was the last, but she didn't waver as she too, raising her card gun. "I don't want to be a burden anymore! I want to protect boss and everyone!"

Tsuna chewed his bottom lip, his friends... he barely gathered his thought when the clown suddenly charged to his direction, pushing the Innocenti out of his way and swung his knife down.

"TSUNA!"

"TSUNA-KUN!"

"BOSS!"

Tsuna gasped as he used his gun to stop the knife just in time to stop above his forehead. His hands was about to give in, the clown was too strong. If not for adrenaline rush he wouldn't be able to put a fight even for a second. Tsuna gritted his teeth; he could see Innocenti trying to pry the clown off of him but the clown didn't budge even an inch. Yamamoto charged at the clown but was kicked by the enraged clown and would have slammed into the wall if not for Hayato who cushion his fall. Nagi fired her cards, which embedded all over his arms but not even that made the mad clown let go of Tsuna. Hayato wanted to use his dynamite but couldn't in the fear that Tsuna would get caught in the explosion.

Hibari was about to move but stopped when he saw Takeshi walked passed him with a strange gleam on his eyes, "Let go of Tsuna... let him go." Shigure Kintoki usually was held upside down by Takeshi, using the blunt edge of the katana to fight instead of the sharp one. Even in his state Tsuna could see Takeshi now was planning to use the sharp edge of Shigure Kintoki.

"Takeshi! STOP! I don't want you to kill! NO!"

"But Tsuna!"

"NO! If you dare to take one more step Takeshi, I will let go of my gun!" He threatened, and Takeshi stepped back in fear, his shigure kintoki fell from his grasp. Tsuna gripped his gun harder, trying to push the knife away to no avail. "I am sorry Takeshi, but I won't let you to do that..." Not now, never!

But...

Was he going to die here? Or survive in exchange of making Takeshi a murderer? No! NO! Neither of that! He would protect them no matter what! They had voiced their feelings to him, their wish to be by his side, there was no way he was going to die without returning their feelings! And for that... He wanted power to protect them, to fight for their sake with his... DYING WILL!

"I will protect all of you... " He felt simmering heat rose within him, it felt so familiar in his mind but his body found it foreign."As your friend." He pushed the knife with his gun little by little, "Comrade..." Tsuna now stood in his full height and the clown gasped in pain as he could feel the heat that coming from Tsuna intensify. "Your sky!"

"That's..." Hayato gasped, memory of a boy with flaming fists played on his mind. "Dying will flame... "

Tsuna's eyes went wide as flame on his fist burst forth as if it had a will of its own, the orange flame danced around his arms, melting the gun, the knife and burned the clown' arm. "AAAAAAAARGH!"

The clown let go of Tsuna, roaring and rolling on the ground in faint hope of putting the flame out. Tsuna watched the monster moaning in pain, pity gripped his heart and he willed the flame to disappear. The flame flickered out as he wished, leaving the clown with burned arms. The clown's eyes rolled up and fluttered shut, for a moment Tsuna thought the clown was dead but something told him the clown was just unconscious and very much alive.

Tsuna averted his eyes from the clown to his friends, they were running to him. Tsuna was almost tackled by a crying Takeshi who for the second time in the last few days called him an idiot and hugged him close, he deserved the 'idiot' calling though. Hayato was next, he looked like he want to pry Takeshi off of Tsuna but didn't because he knew Takeshi needed it. Chrome was crying too, since Takeshi was still hugging him the girl settled on clutching his arm close to her. Kyouya was scowling, but Tsuna could tell there was a hint of relief in his steel colored eyes. Innocenti and Rin, being the sensible adult they were, pried Takeshi off of him in fear the young swordsman would accidentally suffocate him.

_These people... are my life and world. I would die for them. There's no lengths I wouldn't go through to protect their lives..._ He thought as his eyes fluttered, he felt so weak and tired but in the same time... it felt so nice and lulled him to sleep. He could barely comprehend what Innocenti said, he couldn't think straight. Innocenti said something about burns, his hands, flame... the same beautiful flame from his dream...

In spite of Innocenti's yelling Tsuna's eyes fluttered closed. In the distance he heard a familiar voice echo in his mind, _'Well done Sawada Tsunayoshi.'_

That voice... '_Mukuro?'_ And he welcomed his peaceful slumber.

* * *

><p><strong>Italy<strong>, **Serpente Famiglia Mansion. (Four days ago)**

_A young boy, at the eleventh year of his life though one would argue he was younger. The boy was very thin, almost literally just skin and bones. His dark bluish hair was long and unkempt, only slight movement of breathing indicated the boy was still alive. A man was sitting beside the bed. He had spiked out, slick black hair and dark circles under his eyes, giving him eerie look but his eyes were gentle as he looked at the child with growing concern._

_His name was Lancia._

_His eyes went to bruise around the boy's right eye, it was sickening thought that someone had done terrible things to this child. He had found the child near his territory, exhausted and starving. Nothing was wrong with the boy at first, other than being too quiet and passive, but it was not strange for an abused child. The only thing Lancia managed to get from the child was his name, a very peculiar name for an Italian. Rokudo Mukuro, literally translated Six Paths Corpse. It was very strange though, the child at first told Lancia to call him whatever he wanted and then suddenly came up with a Japanese name. Lancia couldn't understand why the boy suddenly hated to be called Angelo, he was indifferent about it before._

_Lancia tried his best to help Mukuro to recover but it was still a long way to get the boy to normal weight of boy his age. Unfortunately Mukuro fell sick so suddenly. The boy spent most of his time in bed sleeping, he got fever frequently and losing appetite. No mafia doctors could find anything wrong with the boy. Lancia wondered if he could get Shamal to heal Mukuro, it was a good thing Shamal owed him a favor. If worse came to worse, he could always tell Shamal that Mukuro was a girl. The boy was pretty and petite enough to pass up as a girl._

_Now... if the young boss could find the pervert and drag his sorry ass back to Italy... he recalled Shamal was supposed to be back soon, depend on when the doctor was dumped. Shamal's house was in Palermo, it would take one and half hour flight to get there. Even if Shamal was not there, Palermo had a better health facility so he could try a civilian doctor first._

_Lancia turned to Mukuro, the boy was looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "Hey... Mukuro, do you think you can handle a trip to Palermo? We're going to see Shamal, he is the best mafia doctor in the world, I am sure he can fix whatever is wrong with you."  
><em>

_Shamal, oh... the doctor Vongola hired. "Sì, Fratello maggiore (yes, big brother)" **  
><em>

_"Good!" Lancia beamed at her surrogate, "Let me make a call and we will book a ticket for tomorrow morning!"_

_By the next morning with Mukuro was safely tucked under warm blanket, Lancia left the manor , waving a good bye to his right hand man. He had no idea it would be the last time he saw his brothers, or that tragedy would befall upon his famiglia._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Present<em>**

Lancia stared in horror as he took in what was left of the prided mansion of the Serpente famiglia. The main door hung from its hinges, the frame surrounded by nothing but the rubble of what had once been the front wall, and the remains of the roof tiles laid scattering around the house. His deceased boss' favorite fountain was no more, the statue of Jormungand had lost its head and the said head was right in front of his feet. Their insignia, the world snake that could devour lands and drink ocean dry. Their pride...

He left his famiglia to his right hand man, only three days. Chiaro**º** just called yesterday afternoon, asking about his well being and Mukuro's. Which meant that, the destruction one of the strongest famiglie in Northern Italy happened in _one_ night.

He looked around, never in his life he desperately pray to God that someone survived this massacre. "Lancia... Boss... is that you?" A hoarse voice called somewhere in midst of ruin and blood. Hope shimmered in his heart as he ran to the source of voice, his blood run cold when he found his right hand man, Chiaro in such condition. His chestnut hair was partially black because of caked blood from deep gash in his temple, but that's not the worse injury. Chiaro had lost half of his left leg and if not for black jacket that bandaged what left he would have died of blood loss. Chiaro gave Lancia a wry grin, "It's a botched attempt for first aid, but not bad right? I get to survive to see you again." He croaked then suddenly he gagged and coughed a lot of blood. ,"Not... for long... though."

Lancia quickly went to his surviving brother, wiping the blood on Chiaro's face. "Just shut up already Chiaro! I will get you to hospital! You're not going to die here... you won't!"

Chiaro glared at Lancia, "No! I lost too much blood, it's too late!"

"It's not!" Lancia snapped, he knew that but he couldn't give up! NO! "Now shut up and don't waste your breath!"

"I would..." He coughed again, "Rather... use my dying breath to talk to you for the last time... to tell you about the one who responsible for this." Lancia sobbed at that, his brother was dying and there's nothing he could do. "Instead of wasting it in hospital. So that... our brother's death won't be for nothing..."

"..." Lanchia gritted his teeth as tears streamed down his face. "Fine... talk brother, tell me..."

Chiaro smiled at him, then his expression turned to one full of grief. "It happened after I called you... something crashed to our mansion, we don't know what... We fought... so much blood." Lancia nodded, urging his brother to continue. "I don't know how many people attacked us... it's a chaos but for sure one person." He raised his forefinger, and Lancia gently hold his trembling hand. "Sky flame... burning everything in its path, a white demon..."

"White demon?" Lancia asked, he never heard of anyone in mafia with that description. "Who is that?"

Chiaro coughed again, "He dressed in all white, his hair was white too... with everything burning I couldn't get a good look on his face but..." Chiaro gritted his teeth, "I would never forget that voice!" He growled, "That_ bastardo_... he sounds very young... couldn't be older than twenty... " Chiaro took a deep breath, "He spoke like an aristocrat, fucking polite, and amused of bloody carnage around him."

"I swear I will get that bastard for you!" Lancia vowed. "Did he say something to you?"

The right hand man gave his young boss a grin, "He spoke to me... He said... "

**"_All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players:  
>they have their exits and their entrances; this is your cue to exit the stage... Serpente famiglia.<br>So that the main stars could make their grand entrance..."_**

"Shakespeare?" Lancia growled, that _bastardo_ thought his famiglia was some sort supporting character that could be tossed aside on his whim?!

Chiaro nodded, " I never like Shakespeare... especially when that heartless bastard is the one who quote it." Chiaro laughed softly, he was always fond of literature and called the bookworm of their famiglia. For the last time in his life he was grateful for that since he could tell his boss more about the one who responsible for their tragedy. "This man is smart... terrifyingly so..."

**"Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.  
>I happen to love this line so much... and yes gentleman, I didn't tear your mind as much as I did your body...<br>But your pain will serve well to turn the gear of fate to my biding..."**

"That _bastardo... _" Lancia growled. "What kind of sick quote has he said now?!"

Chiaro was almost on his last breath,Chiaro cough again,_ "_I don't remember... from what I can tell he has no qualms about witnessing other people's suffering_, _he_ enjoyed _it_. _He was orchestrating... something, for his sick amusement. Whatever it is... he should be stopped. His power... someone with that much power..." Chiaro gritted his teeth as tears streamed his face, "With a sick mind that hopelessly in love with cruelty and savagery..." His brothers, all of them were killed in the most savage way possible. That white demon killed them as if he was a child toying with worthless insect.

"I will... I swear."

He smiled at that, "Thank you... boss, brother Lancia... for everything. You're always... " His eyes fluttered and Lancia shook, knowing his brother's life was about to end.

**"It's sad, isn't it? "In the face of pain there are no heroes... You're going to die alone..."**

The white demon could say what he wanted, but Chiaro clung to his life desperately and waiting for his boss. Lancia came for them, he was here with them and he was sure everyone knew Lancia didn't leave them alone. He might be unable to save their lives, but to be here and give their death a meaning... he was the greatest hero for Serpente famiglia. **"My hero..."** He finished as his eyes fluttered shut and death claimed him in its cradle.

"CHIAROOOOOOO!" Lancia cried as he hugged his brother's body, he could feel the body grow colder and colder in his embrace.

Lancia wiped his tears and swore he won't let the killer get away with it. But for now... Lancia laid Chiaro's lifeless body gently on the ground. Then he dialed a phone number and waited for a few moments until someone picked it up. "Hello? Shamal... this is I... oh Mukuro is okay, that's good." He sobbed, Mukuro was still with him, Yes, he still had a brother left. "Yes, I am fine... no, not really but I have to be!" He snapped, "What happened? My famiglia... they're gone..."

"..."

"CAZZO (fuck)! IT'S NOT A FREAKING JOKE! I WOULD NEVER JOKE ABOUT THAT! I AM STANDING IN THE RUIN OF OUR MANSION! CHIARO'S COLD BODY WAS IN MY ARMS! IT'S HELL!" He calmed himself down as Shamal told him to took a deep breath and take his time to cool down, "I don't know... who would want us dead, you know my famiglia... we're strong but we have more allies than enemies! And definitely not an enemy that could destroy us overnight!" He took a deep breath, "Only Vongola or Vindice that powerful enough to wipe my whole famiglia out in one night! And you know Vongola is our main ally and Nonno is an honorable man! And Vindice! NO, we never break a law!"

Lancia snapped. "Aargh! Just stop asking who it could be! Not now! My revenge could wait! So help me here and make necessary arrangement for proper funeral! I would sooner kill myself then let my brothers' bodies rot here!" He choked out another sob, "Yes... sorry for yelling, thank you Shamal. You're a great friend."

The scarred man gripped the ring on his left hand, the precious ring his late boss gave him. "I am sorry boss, my brothers are gone... but I promise I will not let the culprit get away with this, they will pay!" He vowed as violent storm flame erupted from his body.

* * *

><p><strong>Future: Discordant Orchestra (part 1)<br>**_"He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious."_**  
>Sun Tzu<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Around 30 miles from Tokyo Port <strong>

Hayato was considering using the incompetent staffs' ass as archery target if they couldn't fix the problem they were facing, and not giving him a prim and proper answer that told him anything but doing everything they could without any visible result. He knew it was a bad idea to let Tsuna and other presidents go with such thin security. Takeshi, Nagi and other student council member didn't count. If possible they shouldn't get into a fight if they could avoid it. There's no use to cry over spilled milk, now… if he could get these idiots to do their job right.

"I can't contact Sawada-Kaichou and I am sure it's not horrible reception I should blame this on!" Hayato shouted over the phone.

Shouichi who sat on his right cringed at the volume that was not so gentle for his eardrums, "Hayato-kun…"

"Interference?" Hayato repeated the poor staff on another end of the line, "Oh… _maybe_ something is interfering the satellite signal." Hayato muttered, his voice was dripping with sarcasm. Knowing his fellow vice president, Shouichi was prepared enough to plug his ears before Hayato blew up. "**DON'T GIVE ME THAT 'MAYBE' I HAVE TO KNOW FOR SURE! FIND OUT WHAT CAUSE THIS AND FIX IT!" **And with that Hayato ended the line.

Shouichi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I know they're slow but you shouldn't be so rude to people from central IT Department." Shouichi muttered.

Lambo who was seated on the front seat whistled, "We've got to look out, vice-prez Gokudera is seeing red." He sang.

Gokudera glared at Lambo which he returned with a sheepish grin. "They just suck at doing their job." Hayato said in an annoyed tone. "They piss me off."

The red head shrugged, "You're not the only one who feels restless here, and we still can't contact Tsuna-kun and the others."

Hayato scowled, "Which bastard jammed the signal?! Once I get my hands on them, they will wish they'd never been born!"

Lambo rolled his eyes, "What a classic line." He mumbled under his breath.

"At any rate… try to contact the port security." Hayato said to his fellow vice-prez. "Don't alert them why though, we don't need a big fuss. Hibari is on the way, he and his squad are big enough fuss already."

Shouichi smiled at that, "Roger." Hayato always had a temper but his fuse was short, there was a reason why he was Tsuna's right hand man.

* * *

><p>Natsu once again counting from 100 to zero, taking three at a time for each count. His father's recipe for nervous wreck was not really working though. Then again he was royally screwed; he didn't have to hear a gunshot first to know it. He lived with the mafia for two years and he knew enough to feel when someone near was planning to kill him, the blood lust in the air was so thick and suffocating. The other indication was the last waiter he saw coming to refill water never returned.<p>

In fact everyone in the room for some reason was aware a predator was watching them with hungry eyes, licking its lips, and waiting for its chance to sink its claw to them. Natsu was nervous but not panicking, on his mind he was running through many scenarios to get themselves out of this mess. It was pointless though; because he had no idea how many assassin they were facing and how strong.

"Rats." Yagami muttered in distaste, "This is not one or two, they have enough people to pull this off."

Natsu turned sharply to Raito who was scowling at the screen of his laptop, "They probably have incapacitated our bodyguards too. " Tsuna added with a sigh, which made Natsu turned his attention to his older twin.

Suoh nodded in agreement, "Neither I nor Takeshi-niisan received any report from the bodyguards." He said, pulling out his phone. "No one pick up our calls."

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head, "Since we've not heard any gunshots, it's not a good sign." It meant their bodyguards were already knocked out cold, probably with sleeping gas since they had not heard the gunshot.

* * *

><p>Teacher of Chinatsu, the leader of Orchestra gritted his teeth when he saw all humans he came across were off to dreamland. He was sole member of original orchestra and the musician of death Carlos Salvo. He hated this kind of method, old fashioned way of assassin to kill and retreat soundlessly. They were orchestra, their instruments were supposed to rule the night with its beautiful melody. He was foolish enough to think his employer was going to stand in the sidelines, of course they wanted a piece of that boy for themselves. Carlos was no stranger to manipulation, or that their own employer couldn't cross them. It didn't take a genius to see how this assassination would go in his employer's plan. They would kill the heir of Vongola themselves, and let his group to take the blame. For this plan to be executed perfectly, it was obvious he and Chinatsu were going to be killed.<p>

"Damn them all!" He cursed under his breath, as if he was going to die on their terms!

Carlos turned around, ready to retreat and regroup with his disciple but paused in mid step. He could sense chilling killer intent all over the place, and it was obvious the moment he backed down he would be gunned down by his employer's men. It seemed there was only one solution. He pulled out his walkie talkie and contacted his beloved disciple, "Oi Chinatsu, there're idiots played two neighboring notes tonight." He muttered under his breath, "It's hurting my ears."

There was a pause and a gasp before his disciple quickly regained her composure, "Understood." Was the curt response Chinatsu gave.

The assassin ended the line with a scowl, he adjusted his brown tinted glasses. "This is going to be one awful concert." He muttered as he planted his back against the wall and slowly advanced. He hated being discreet, but marching like a noble musician would cost him his life in the most foolish way possible.

Unknown to Carlos, a pair of beady eyes of the mermaid painting on his left side was following his every move. Then again considering the assassin was already aware of being spied on, another pair of extra eyes would hardly alarm him. Reborn narrowed his eyes as he processed the information, so the skulking group was not part of Orchestra's plan. He hated the unexpected factor, this kind of entangled mess was too soon for Natsu to deal with. At first he thought Orchestra would be a right bite sized challenge for his student, but with this unknown employer planning to cross Orchestra and took Natsu with them, it would be too much for the heir of Vongola.

Another part of his however was excited, he wanted to leave the drama to roll and watch it in his comfy VIP seat. He wanted to see his student fare against such situation, but he was even more curious about what _Sawada Tsunayoshi_ would do.

* * *

><p>Mukuro gave him a wrong information, if the one that after Natsu was indeed Orchestra. Or there was another assassin Mukuro wasn't aware of? While Mukuro was not infallible, Tsuna was well aware how much of a perfectionist his mist was. There was no way he could miss out an assassination attempt, or carelessly get the wrong date by one week. Imagine how Mukuro would react if he found out someone fooled him. That was just one of the few things Tsuna found suspicious. Second, even if they got the date wrong it meant little since Reborn was always nearby and alert. And third, blocked communication, no gunshot, and very careful execution. It would have been different if the assassins knew their combat capabilities, no one would go through so much trouble against a bunch of students. This situation, where no contact from outside, no one knows what's going one on the other side of the door... The tension was slowly suffocating you, had they been normal kids they would have been losing their composure and suffocated by anxiety. This situation was...<p>

Tsuna's eyes widened, wait... wait! It did make sense! The culprit was... Tsuna could feel his temper rise, how dare... The brunette shook his head, he could be angry all he wanted later.

Not to mention...

Natsu was thinking, the thinking pose that was an Oscar worthy imitation of 'The Thinker' was too obvious. Tsuna sweat-dropped at the sight, wondering what was going through his younger twin's mind. Tsuna closed his eyes with a sigh. Hopefully it was not something stupid and typical such as excusing himself for a toilet break, "Excuse me Tsuna, but I need to go to toilet." Which would take a while as he dealt with the assassin himself. "It will take a while but don't worry! It's just my gastric acting up again."

Tsuna's eyes snapped open as he processed what his twin said, "Wait! WHAT?!" He shouted in alarm.

"Ja ne!" Natsu gave his older twin a salute and was about to walk but stopped by Tsuna, who was holding his wrist in iron grip. Natsu's eyes widened, since when Tsuna moved? "Tsuna, let me go!"

Tsuna didn't bulge even an inch, ignoring how suspicious it would look like that the supposedly weak Kaichou could restrain a trained mafia heir like Natsu. "There's a security breach we don't know the cause is, moving around alone is a foolish thing to do."

"But!" Natsu protested. He couldn't just wait and do nothing! If he didn't get out of the room, everyone would be killed too! There's no way he could protect so many people at the same time! "I have to go!"

"Natsu, sit down." Tsuna ordered.

The younger twin gritted his teeth as he tried to break free from Tsuna's iron grip, "No!"

Natsu barely registered when Tsuna's free hand moved and pushed his shoulder down, and he was back to his seat. "Just sit." What the hell happened? That was not strength Tsuna displayed just now. His legs suddenly gave in and he was pushed down back to his seat. Tsuna still had his hand on Natsu's shoulder, and to the younger twin, his older brother's hand felt heavy like a lead. "Calm down, acting rashly will get you nowhere."

"But Tsuna..." Being in the same room with him would endanger them too!

Tsuna frowned at Natsu, his grip tightened and Natsu flinched under his gaze. "No little brother, I can't let you to go out there when we have no idea what's happening now... I will never forgive myself if you get hurt under my watch."

"But..." Natsu croaked another protest but cut off by someone.

"As much as I hate to ruin the brotherly drama." Sarcastic voice of Yagami cut in the conversation between the twin, "We're in a difficult position, so start thinking or do something to get us out of this mess."

Tsuna for the first time since they noticed the danger averted his attention from his younger twin, "If you have time to produce a sarcastic remark Yagami-senpai, could you start working to restore our communication signal? Or at least find out what happened?"

Yagami scoffed, "I am trying, but it's not working." He rubbed his temple, "These guys hacked the line and manage to bring the whole local system down"

The younger teen blinked, his grip on his younger twin loosened. "Local..." Tsuna smiled as an idea crossed his mind, he quickly pulled out his cellphone and tossed it to Yagami who caught it with ease. "My phone is a satellite cellphone, with that you can connect to foreign access point."

"..."

Yagami Raito opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it then promptly closed it again. "YOU SHOULD SAY SO IF YOU HAVE THIS! SAWADA!" The older president roared as he connected Tsuna's phone to his laptop. "This thing must have cost a lot."

Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, "Not really, it was a present..." He would have tell Yagami if the senior didn't keep quiet as he working and tell him what the source of their problem sooner. "The access code is 100-117-223-15"

Yagami glared again at Tsuna before he typed the code in, "It's connected!" He breathed a sigh of relieve, "Now if I could..." The brunette trailed off as he typed faster.

Natsu who watched the whole exchange looked up to his brother, the thought of getting away was long forgotten. "Uhm, can we use that to call for help?" He asked nervously.

Before Tsuna could answer, Yagami took the privilege. "Did you hear what I said? It's down, local calls still go through the said system." He scowled at Natsu, the older boy eyed him skeptically. "Are you really Sawada's little brother?"

Natsu felt his heart clench, but nothing came out of his mouth to refute the question. "That's uncalled for Yagami-senpai!" Tsuna snapped at the older boy, which startled all occupants of the room since it was their first time to see Sawada was downright furious.

"Your brother is being an idiot, and I am telling him." Interesting, so Sawada's berserk button was his brother?

"You!" Tsuna growled.

"Tsuna?"

Nokoru as the other leader in the room stepped forward in between his fellow Kaichou's. "Hai... hai... no arguments should be started in this situation, we should do our best to deal with this situation accordingly and set our differences aside." He tried to pacify the two, they looked ready to be in each other's throat. "Well?" He pressed on.

Tsuna and Yagami spared a glance at each other then to Nokoru. The spiky haired brunette sighed, he had let his temper get the best of him. He usually could control himself, but he couldn't take a stranger like Raito insulting Natsu and compared his little brother to him. He let out a sigh, "You're right Nokoru-kun, this is not the right time to fight among ourselves... "

Yagami grunted, "Very well..." He turned back to his laptop.

Nokoru let out a sigh as he moved closer to the oldest teen, peering over his shoulder to see the screen. "How is it?"

"I manage to get the layout of this restaurant so possible escape routes are assured." The older teen informed the blond. "I also hacked to this restaurant's security system but it's no use, all cameras are blank and it's obvious they have completely surrounded us."

"How about CCTV in traffic around this area?" Tsuna asked as he followed Nokoru's example to peer. The youngest almost jumped in fright, since he didn't notice since when Tsuna was standing beside him.

Yagami hummed at that, "I am checking it now... " A window popped up, displaying a live video that divided in four. "Nothing amiss... which means they're gathered in this restaurant and surrounding area. Probably just fifty meters radius or less. " He grunted, "We're definitely not expected to escape very far by them..."

Natsu stared at the three discussing leaders, it was as if the previous argument never exist. He almost yelped when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder, and relaxed again when he noticed it was Yamamoto. Natsu didn't know why but Yamamoto had a calming presence, a presence that washed his anxiety away. "There they go... our Kaichou are the best."

"In a situation like this they work together perfectly," Suoh sighed, "Although I wish Yagami-senpai'd stop picking on Sawada-senpai."

Yamamoto shrugged, "You know him, Yagami-senpai always looked at Tsuna as a worthy rival... and unfortunately to him." The baseball player rubbed the back of his head, "Tsuna is not someone who's worked up by a rival, and he likes to think of Yagami-senpai as a friend."

The dark haired boy cringed, "So he is still bitter about that?" He shook his head, and at the questioning look Natsu shot at him he answered. "Yagami-senpai hoped Sawada-senpai would follow his example to be an investigator, but your brother... refused."

Natsu's eyes widened, inwardly he sighed in relief that Tsuna refused. He couldn't imagine a future where his brother would hunt him and his father down, or worse, put them behind the bars. "Oh."

Tsuna's eyes narrowed as he could feel his body tense in alarm. That was never a good sign, "Hurry up Yagami-senpai, we don't have much time." In a normal circumstances, and if it was someone else who told him to hurry up, Yagami Raito would have snapped. Especially when he didn't get a logical reason why they didn't have much time. However when it was Sawada Tsunayoshi who said so, he knew from experience not to question the younger brunette and do as he was told. Sawada was borderline seer when it comes to danger.

"I am done!" Yagami exclaimed. "Now to get out of here... " He scowled under his breath. "I have to call a favor, and since anyone in Japan is out..." He trailed off as he used Tsuna's phone to make a call. "Hello Mr. Black, it's been a while..." Yagami spoke in perfect accentless English, and he ignored the twin groan from his back.

****X****

**New York, CIA Headquarter**

George Black the chief of CIA had watched the incident in Japan from the sky; of course it was illegal since they didn't have permission from the Japanese government. It was just sheer dumb luck and a lot of pulling strings that had landed him on the information of the return of the heir of Vongola to Japan. It was easy to track down recent arrival of Orchestra in Japan, and he knew where to look for information. There was a reason why he was the chief of National Clandestine Service.

He didn't even bat an eye when an unknown number flashed on his phone's screen, "Ah, Yagami-kun right?" He chose to speak Japanese even though the student greeted him in English. "Ah yes... I know you and your friends are in a pinch. Of course I would be more than happy to help my future partner." He could almost see Yagami flinch at the last part if the almost muffled grunt was anything to go by. "What's wrong?"

The middle aged agent suppressed his urge to scowl when he heard Yagami promise to talk about how the plan to let CIA investigate their school was cancelled. "Very well, so count this as a favor then."

****X****

Yagami's eyes narrowed as the chief of CIA declared that he owed CIA a favor with helping them. If Yagami let him, they won't be able to refuse! "This is an outrage! You can't hold this as something we have to pay back!"

Tsuna sighed, while asking for help from CIA was a sound idea he knew it would end up like this. Chief Black was probably the most dangerous agent of CIA, for enemy and allies alike. There was a reason why one of his nicknames was Burattinaio, a name mafioso gave to the man. Italian for puppeteer, a skilled player in manipulating enemies and allies of his. Tsuna had met the man a couple of time in the past, none of the meetings gave Tsuna a positive impression of the man. $

He sighed as he watched Yagami argued with the man, obviously outraged the man made them owe him a favor in a situation like this. Tsuna tapped Yagami's shoulder, earning him a scowl and a reluctant nod for his trouble. Tsuna took his phone back and a deep breath before he pressed the phone to his ears. "It's been a while Chief Black."

There was a snort of amusement before he heard the man replied, "Hello Tsunayoshi-kun, just the boy I dread to hear from these days. Ready to join CIA now boy? There's always an open spot for you here."

Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, "Sarcasm is not going to take you anywhere, Chief Black." Tsuna cleared his throat, "We don't have much time so let's cut the chase, we wants your help and that means we _owe_ you a favor." The brunette summarized their situation, which earned him an incredulous stare from Nokoru and Yagami with how deadpan he sounded with his summary. He smiled benignly and his fellow Kaichou knew that was not a good sign for George Black, hopefully it was for their side. "Then let me _return_ the favor now, Chief Black." Tsuna was never one to threaten people, but he would never hesitate when it was a pay back. No one get away with blackmailing him and his friend, and for endangering his brother in the process too.

George Black suppressed an urge to stutter at the unexpected retort, "What do you mean Sawada-kun?" He sounded calm in the surface, but actually he was on edge of what Tsuna was getting at.

Yagami and Nokoru gaped, they couldn't believe Tsuna had the gall to fake a coughing fit and coughed three words out, "Night9." Cough, "Cuba." Cough, "Rabbit."

Like any other intelligentsia organization, CIA had their share of skeleton in the closet. This was just one of many Mukuro generously shared with him in case Chief Black tried something unsavory. Apparently CIA, or specifically part of it that led by Chief Black had imprisoned a hacker and quantum physic scientist in Cuba. The said hacker was an Egyptian woman, she was nicknamed **Rabbit Foot**, not for her lucky charm but because she hacked into and released a multitude of secret information to the public and disappeared without a trace. CIA however did _not_ have the legal grounds to detain her, there's no solid evidence of her doing anything thus her detainment was a violation to human rights and illegal. There would be a hell to pay if it got out in public. Recently someone freed the 'Rabbit Foot' when she was moved somewhere else, CIA who had predicted this then dispatched Night 9, the elite group of soldiers that trained to operate at night as described by their name. The conflict didn't end splendidly on CIA's side however...

Tsuna's eyes narrowed as he waited for a reaction. There was a slight pause and then choking sound coming from the phone. Nokoru covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing, Yagami didn't laugh but he grudgingly admitted that his respect on Sawada have gone up a notch, or two, even three.

Tsuna sighed and then coughed another three out, "Old friend." Cough, "Secret." Cough, "Red head."

Night 9 belonged to US army, and Chief Black dispatched the team without their superior's approval. The middle aged agent however managed to smooth things out easily since the said superior was an old friend of his. Even though the superior was his old friend, Black did not owe _anyone_ a favor. When his old friend tried to call him out, Black promised to keep his friend's affair with a red haired opera singer a secret, effectively shut his own friend's up about the whole ordeal.

Another gurgling noise could be heard again. "So Chief Black... are we going to strike a deal or not?" He asked with the most stoically professional tone he could muster, he was losing his patience in record time. "And by the way... US Predator you use to spy this area is not with legal permission to enter our country I suppose?" He wondered out loud, not that he was sure what Black used to spy on them tonight but there was an article about the newest technology of automatic aircraft with full marks for recon mission. The coughing fit from another line kindly confirmed his guess, hopefully after this Chief Black wouldn't dare to do that again. Not that Chief black could use this method around their school ground, Clamp Gakuen had their own army that ready to shoot the predator down if he did.

Nokoru rolled his eyes, "No wonder he know so fast... " The youngest president in the room muttered under his breath, "That's going to be a heck of political nightmare if this get to the Japanese government."

Yagami face-palmed, "Oh my god, he didn't..."

This man! Black managed to hold his composure; it wouldn't do him any good if he got pressured by Sawada Tsunayoshi even more. As expected of the boy, no, the man he had his eyes on. "Heh... ha ha ha ha... you got me there Sawada-kun! Very well! Use all resources I have just for tonight!" He offered generously.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, nothing could baffle this man for long it seemed. "Thank you Chief Black, I will leave you to Yagami-senpai then." Tsuna didn't wait for a response and handed the phone back to Raito.

* * *

><p>Reborn watched the exchange from the small hole in the ceiling of the room with passive face, however inside he was thinking furiously. This was unexpected, Tsuna knew quite deep into CIA. He had spied on Tsuna's meeting with the two, something about joining an investigation. He had watched them discussing a lot of planning for summer and autumn period in their school, mostly about festivals and events their school loved. Yagami Raito suddenly brought up a proposal, the only conversation Reborn paid attention to.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Flashback <strong>†<strong>_

_Yagami handed a thin proposal to each of his fellow president, gazing at them with cool eyes as they opened the proposal and began to read. Nokoru was reading the proposal with raised eyebrow, slowly flipping page by page with steady pace. Tsuna did the same for the first three pages, before the brunette started to read in faster pace and his frown deepened. If Yagami didn't know better, he would have thought Sawada was just skimming through the proposal. Sawada was always a fast reader, and when everyone else was busy reading in this kind of meeting, Sawada would take his time to contemplate what he had read while waiting other people to finish their read patiently. Professional and efficient, two things Yagami admired of Sawada Tsunayoshi._

_The older brunette frowned when Sawada didn't put the proposal down after he was done, or humming as contemplating what he just read. He did none of his habit. Tsuna turned to Yagami as he placed the proposal on the table, frowning at the older president. "What is this Yagami-senpai?" He asked with austere look on his face._

_"... What do you mean Sawada-kun?"_

_Tsuna's eyes narrowed, "A proposal to approve an investigation in Japan with our school as its center... by Agent Jerry Schatzberg." Tsuna summarized the proposal in one sentence. "I am afraid this is one dry humor, even for you Yagami-senpai."_

_The older brunette sighed, "I should know it would be this kind of reaction I could expect from you when Mr. Schatzberg is concerned." He turned to Nokoru who just finished reading. "What about you, Imonoyama-kun?"_

_Nokoru glanced at Tsuna then back to Yagami, he pushed the proposal back to Yagami. "Forget it, you know Mr. Schatzberg's attitude and reputation... "_

_"Scarecrow... notoriously know for scaring away the crows of underworld from the gold fields. He is for his skill in tracking shady deal of underworld." Yagami recited the rumor many had heard of the notorious agent, "His attitude and personality leave much to be desired though."_

_The blond sighed, "And you're asking us to convince headmaster and other student council presidents to approve this? Letting that man prowling our school?"_

_Yagami scoffed at that, "Not really, and I am never fond of an agent who waltz in to wherever he desired in the name of justice and ignore ethical integrity." _

_Tsuna rubbed his temple, "You mean like when he slouched in Bombai Police HQ and demand them to hand over the CCTV record of a gunfight?"_

_"And he punched the lady he tried to arrest across her 'face' five minutes later?" Nokoru added with a rare display of distaste and loathing in his voice._

_The son of chief officer chuckled at that, "Yes, now... please help me to come up with a diplomatic answer so we don't have to welcome this unwanted guest." He looked at Tsuna, a cunning smirk painted on his face._

_Tsuna sighed, "I understand... but why's it always me who has to come up with a feasible 'diplomatic' answer?"_

_"You know scarecrow better than I do." Yagami pointed out, "And the diplomatic skills are always your forte, there's a reason headmaster trust you with her connections."_

_The younger brunette rolled his eyes inwardly at that, titling his head to the side as a sigh escaped his lips. "Knowing him is not by choice, m_y _knowledge of him born out of 'inevitability' not out of free will."_

_Nokoru sweat-dropped at that, "Why does that man insist on keeping an eye on you, senpai? And by extension, me? We're not criminals."_

_"I have no idea..." Tsuna shrugged, then turned to Yagami."When is the deadline for us to give them our answer?"_

_The older brunette drawled, "No specific deadline, but they did say 'as soon as _we_ could' in their email."_

_Tsuna laughed softly at that, "How nice of them."_

_Nokoru beamed at that, "I see where's this going, I love it."_

_"Ha ha ha ha..."_

_Reborn wiped non-existent tear from his beady eyes, it's a shame none of this boys belong to mafia world. It's_ **really** _a waste! _

_Tsuna smiled as he explained his plan to his fellow presidents, suppressing his shudder as he felt Reborn's eyes on him. At the time like this, he hated his hyper intuition._

_End of flashback_

* * *

><p>Reborn watched Yagami shaking his head, glaring at Tsuna before he let out a sigh, "I can't believe you have guts to blackmail a Chief of CIA, and that Bookman of all people!" Bookman was the most well-known nickname of George Black because of his scholar background.<p>

Tsuna shrugged, his eyes narrowed. "He started it." Had it been anyone else who said it would sound childish, but Tsuna's tone was cold and stern. "I returned the favor like he wanted us to, didn't I?"

Nokoru laughed at that, "Ha ha ha... he asked for it, didn't he?"

Yagami snorted, "Warn me if I am too deep in your bad side that could earn me the same hostility you reserve for Bookman and Scarecrow."

Tsuna cringed at that, "I won't call that hostility that I..." Tsuna trailed off but Yagami cut him off.

"Whatever, and you got the info to blackmail him from a little birdie?" Yagami asked sarcastically.

Tsuna grinned at that, "Not exactly little, it's an owl (Fukurou) that came to me singing some pretty song." He muttered with a smirk.

"Right~" Yagami rolled his eyes. "An owl, got it."

Nokoru shrugged, "Oh hoot~ Are you secretly a wizard and a cousin of Harry Potter, Tsunayoshi-senpai?" The blond asked jokingly.

Tsuna laughed at that, "As if~"

"Uhm... brother." Tsuna tensed a little as he watched his brother approached him, of course his younger wanted an explanation. "Yagami-senpai just now said... You just...blackmailed a freaking CIA agent?!" He asked incredulously.

"The _Chief_ of National Clandestine Service to be exact." Yagami corrected, at puzzled look Natsu made he added. "Never mind, he is a 'freaking' agent and let's leave it at that." He was not going to sprout 'CIA Body Structure for Dummies', so Sawada's brother could be properly informed.

Natsu groaned, "Who cares! Tsuna you!" How the hell you got involved with them?! He and their father were in mafia! And Tsuna had connection to an agent, and a high ranked one at that?! Did he have any idea how messed up that is?!

"I will explain later." Tsuna promised, fully aware what was going through Natsu's mind.

Natsu chewed his lips, "But."

"It _can_ wait." Natsu tensed when he saw Tsuna's eyes flashed with something he couldn't comprehend, and in spite of being taller Natsu felt like Tsuna was looming over him for that brief moment. The pressing concern in his mind was long forgotten as he nodded, not a single fiber of his being even thinking to disagree with his older brother.

Lost in his reverie, Natsu was snapped back to reality when Yagami exclaimed, "It's done, let's get out of here."

* * *

><p><strong>"Why the hell is it you who called me?!"<strong> Gokudera Hayato spat venomously to the man who ranked very high in his list of 'Bastard to Blow Up to Kingdom Come'

"That's so unbecoming of you Gokudera-kun. Mind your language when you speak to your elder."

Hayato snorted, "Of course Chief Black, now if you excuse me... I need to check that file you sent me and get our presidents out of there." He was about to end the line but paused as he was reminded of something. "Oh, and please erase my email address... that's not going to be in use anymore in the next 24 hours or so. Have a good night Chief Black." Gokudera muttered with a voice that dripped with sarcasm and ended the line abruptly.

Shouichi face-palmed, "Great! Now it's going to be harder and harder to get that man off of our back!"

The silver haired vice-prez snorted, "Bookman my ass! If it's up to me I am going to call him... Stalkerman!"

Lambo puffed his cheek, "Bu... hah ha ha ha ha! That's a good one!"

Both of them ignored Lambo's laughter as they continued their work, none of them uttering a word when Lambo opened the door and hopped off. "See you later!" He bid the older boys and disappeared into the nearest dark alley.

Irie Shouichi adjusted his glasses, the lens glinting in light of his laptop. "Lambo is on the move... 70meters from the restaurant." He said as he observed the green dot on the digital map. "At this speed he will arrive in less than five minutes."

"Good." Hayato responded curtly as he fished out his phone, which thankfully was still working at this distance. "Hello Kyoya, yes... I can see your location in my laptop. Lambo is going to catch up with you soon." Hayato groaned when he heard the aloof prefect voiced his disagreement of being accompanied by Lambo for this operation. "Just ignore him and pretend the cow never existed! Haaa?!"

Hayato sighed again, "Of course, as usual just leave them in whatever condition but dead." The silver haired vice-prez said offhandedly, they had this conversation too many times to count. Not that Hibari needed permission to beat anyone who endangered them, what he needed was to make sure everything could be covered up perfectly. So that Namimori Gakuen's reputation wouldn't be tarnished in the process. "We will cover up everything as usual..."

* * *

><p>Hibari Kyouya scoffed as he ended the line and turned to his disciplinary squad, all of them donned their prided gakuran and armband of discipline. Kusakabe Tetsuya stood in front of the squad, looking at his leader with determined eyes. The aloof leader didn't bat an eye when a truck with a massive Namimori insignia on its body parked near his squad, a familiar head poked out of the driver's window. The driver had messy black hair, unshaven jaw and toned body. "Oi! Hibari-san! I am ready to drive you guys to bloody carnage."<p>

Kusakabe sighed, "Seo-san! We're going to save Sawada-Kaichou and the others! Not a massacre! "

**\** Seo Kaoru, the driver just snorted at the pompadour haired teen's correction. "As far as I am concerned, wherever your leader is going... it would be a bloody carnage." He said offhandedly, "But then again who cares! As long as I drive you there, keep my mouth shut about everything, and my pay is good." Seo muttered, ignoring the familiar soft landing sound Hibari made when he jumped to the top of Seo's truck. How the boy loved that spot, and the height. Not that Seo would dare to comment about the boy's penchant for high place ever _again_, he loved his teeth where they were, thank you.

Kusakabe cleared his throat, his argument with their driver could wait."Sawada-Kaichou's condition is confirmed, and for the sake of Namimori Gakuen we're going to smash through the herbivores who are stupid enough to endanger him. Our Kaichou has confirmed their own escape route so we only have to guard them! Everyone, make sure you have your maps and walkies-talkies with you!"

"OU!"

The prefect's eyes glinted in approval, his squad would never fail to defend Namimori and Student Council. "It's time to hunt those herbivores..." Hibari announced as he drew his tonfa out.

Seo turned his eyes away the moment he saw their eyes became red, he pitied the fools who would become their prey. Kusakabe looked as prim as ever but no one could mistaken the same red glint on his eyes, "You hear that boys... It's hunting time."

One of the squad member grinned maniacally, "Hunting time."

"It's been a while!"

"He he he... hunting time~" Another cackled maniacally.

Seo Kaoru swore he heard one of the boys make a slurping sound. Sometimes he hated this job, if only the pay was not too good to pass up. It's about time he booked another appointment with his therapist. A driver for a pack of homicidal boys and their bloodthirsty skylark leader was a very tough job.

* * *

><p>A lithe form landed on a building right beside where Hibari and his squad were gathering. His shoulder length white hair danced by the night wind, a playful smirk grazed his lips as he watched the disciplinary squad hopped to their truck one by one. He hummed and sat on the edge of the building, his feet dangling in the air. He laughed when he saw Hibari Kyouya glare at his direction murderously, no doubt the prefect was thinking of 101 ways to bite him to death. He would have, if only Sawada Tsunayoshi was not in danger. With one last glare from the skylark the truck sped off and the mysterious man could see the truck swallowed by the darkness of night.<p>

It was no doubt Hibari Kyouya already knew who caused this incident. Tsunayoshi would have too, even with the scarce clues and evidence. Oh, how Sawada Tsunayoshi fascinated him so much! He pulled out his laptop out of his bag, humming as he clicked a window that displayed a video of Tsuna talking to Nokoru and Yagami which was taken from the same meeting that they held this afternoon.

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them... said William Shakespeare." He recited, his fingers traced a zoom in of Tsuna's face. "Sawada Tsunayoshi... at the first glance you weren't born great because your brother was chosen over you to be the boss of Vongola, but those people are blind to potential you were born with." He muttered with an amused smirk, the video was zoomed in again and now focusing on Tsuna's amber eye. "Even so you achieve greatness with your own hands... so many eyes looking at you for guidance, while all you seek is to protect those you hold dear." He chuckled softly, "And then! Another greatness shall be thrust upon you too. Or maybe you already have it?"

He shook his head, the camera zoomed out and now he could see Tsuna turned to talk to Yagami with a gentle smile on his face. "Sawada Tsunayoshi... for all wisdom and charisma you nurtured for the last two and half years you still foolishly believe you could escape from your fate? How naive... your guardians are the only one you want to keep? Ha ha ha, dream what you want but there's no way... there's only one path for you..."

**"The true and rightful owner of Vongola Ring.**  
><strong>Sawada Tsunayoshi... <strong>  
><strong>Il Santo di Cielo<strong>  
><strong>The Saint of The Sky..."<strong>

Review Please!**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Sometimes I wonder... how the hell I write this story anyway? Rereading this story, I can't really recall how the plot twist, stretch and so on and become what it is now... but I am always happy with what I get in the end anyway! Ha ha ha ha!<br>**

**Usually past and future worth the same word counts and future tend to be longer :) but in this chapter, past is MUCH longer than future. I guess that's because Mist chapter is handling two people at once and Chrome's story is a very important turning point. Mist chapter is basically Tsuna brushing shoulders almost directly with underground society... and since Mukuro is next, it will be deeper yeah~  
>And... while I have told you many times that asking spoiler question won't be answered, you can put the question which would be explained once the relevant chapter that answer your question is out ;)<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Preview:<br>**

**Past: The Last Piece of The Sky, Mist of Chaos  
><strong>

"Mukuro? What happened in Italy?" Tsuna asked fearfully, dread washed over his mind as waiting for Mukuro to answer.

Mukuro gritted his teeth, "A Massacre... three famiglie were destroyed in the last three weeks."

Tsuna's mouth went dry, "What... fa"

The mist didn't let Tsuna to finish, "Estraneo... famiglia I used to belong to, Serpente... Lancia's famiglie." Mukuro snapped when he saw Hayato was about to open his mouth, "It's not ME! I was sleeping in Palermo! In Shamal's clinic, when that happened."

"Sorry." Hayato grumbled.

"The third was Bovino."

"WHAT?!"

**Future: Future: Discordant Orchestra (part 2)**

Carlos grinned as he looked at the sophisticated looking brat with glasses, "Oh, hello prey." He sang as he pointed his assault rifles at Tsuna.

"Huh?" Natsuhiko blinked at the assassin who looked 100% sure that Tsuna was his target.

The older twin didn't even blink at the rifles that pointed at him, Tsuna felt stupid to ask this but he asked anyway. "How could you be so sure I am the one your employer wanted?" Tsuna asked cynically. ****  
><strong>**

Carlos cocked his head to the side, staring at Tsuna as if the president had grown another head that speak Swahili. "If you want to hide your identity brat, go get a new face." The self-proclaimed musical assassin informed Tsuna with a tone that suggested he was an idiot.

"..." Tsuna smiled at that, "I see..."

It was a very cruel fate of genetic, Reborn thought mirthfully. And Natsuhiko thought his brother looked nothing like a mafia.

* * *

><p><strong>Use ctrl F to look for the which part this AN refer to.<br>**

***** Katou Touichi as all of you guess is reference to Kuroba Touichi, Kaitou Kid's father. Katou is a pretty common surname in Japan, that's why Innocenti didn't make the connection to Chrome/Nagi right away.

**There's an explanation of what's going on to Mukuro in Italy and YES, he would be the main star next chapter in past. XD He has the dream? Yes.

**۵** Tsuna is talking about his hyper intuition of course.

_**۷**_ I am sure some reviewer ever ask this before, Vongola Decimo in this story is actually the same Tsuna in my Reunion of The Sky.

**º** Chiaro is an OC, and yes... another bad habit of mine. Killing an OC off on the bat but he serve his purpose. If you want to have clearer description of his looks just imagine use Yamato/Tenzo from Naruto. I am not that picky with how my OC looks. I am pickier with their name for some reason I can't explain, Chiaro means light in Italian or is it Greek? I can't remember, I read it in some Saint Seiya fic before...

#Innocenti is talking about how the make up would have hide the physical traits of a drug user.

$ No offense to real life CIA of course. The CIA in Jormungand I use simply not painted in the most positive light, not that they're evil. Tsuna is just the type who dislike how Chief Black works. Tsuna also won't abuse info he has to keep blackmailing CIA unless he is really cornered, and the man is asking for it.

_**†**_ I change this part which connected from last chapter too, because on second though having Yagami insistently supporting the likes of scarecrow is weird.

**\** Seo Kaoru from Sekirei, just the man I think will fit the role of driver for a pack of homicidal boys and their bloodthirsty skylark leader. He is just a driver, no more no less. He can defend himself if attacked, which is why he can survive following DC**.  
><strong>

**HERE is our Fukurou! Kufufu- fu fufu~  
><strong>

****λ...λ  
>(ºvº)<br>( iREVIEWi )  
>\i<strong><strong>REVIEW<strong>**i/  
>\mm  
>l : : l<br>\::/****


	8. 7th Axis

**This chapter have been sitting in my inbox after I receive it from my beta for one month… but hey! At least I update it! So Rejoice!**

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><p><strong>Past: The Last Piece of The Sky, The Mist of Chaos <strong>

**"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.**"  
><span>Ella Wheeler Wilcox<span>

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><p>Innocenti sighed as he walked through the hospital corridor. In the operation that should have been <em>freaking <em>stealthy to save Katou Nagi, things went south and Tsuna, of all people, was injured _again. _It took careful hypnotism on doctor and nurses in charge of Tsuna and a bit of hacking to wave off the burn on his arms as part of injury he got few days ago along with a mild concussion. Nana freaked out that her Tsu-kun suddenly had burn all over his hands. It was by sheer miracle that Tsuna only suffered first degree burn that would heal nicely in one week, it could be worse, much worse. Innocenti had seen some newbie mafia carelessly using their flame and ended up killed by their own flame.

Tsuna was still sleeping, exhaustion and stress because of awakening of his flame and Vongola blood. Not to mention it happened when he was in danger and without prior training of dying will mode. Innocenti had to say they were quite lucky there was no lasting damage on Tsuna physically, but mentally? He was not sure of that for now.

As far as his eyes could see, it was endless darkness. When he was small Natsu was always scared of darkness, which was the only time his brother would seek comfort from him and no one else. Tsuna always felt some sort of comfort in darkness. It was a strange feeling, rooting from imagination of what beyond. So when he found himself in the darkness, he was not afraid. He couldn't utter a sound as he was slowly pulled down by imaginary gravity, sensation of slowly drowning in a pool of darkness.

Tsuna found it fascinating that he could still see his hands, small and chubby hands of ten years old, or so he thought. He saw burn mark all over his hands, and wondered how it could be that bad. Oh right, his flame. A small sky flame flickered on the tip of his forefingers, slow but steadily grew bigger and enveloped his palms. Tsuna watched his burning hands; barely aware that his feet had landed to a surface. He had regained his footing and no longer drowning, but that was the least of his thought when his flame flickered, and as if it was alive jumped from his hands and formed a humanoid shape.

His eyes widened in awe as the flame grew and resembled a human figure, slowly but steadily the skin of flame shed, revealing a man that towered over him. Tsuna took a step back as he looked up. The man was twice his height with lean and muscular body, wearing a pin stripped suit and white cloak over it. His hair was brown and spiky, fair skinned, upper half of his face was shrouded in flame like mask.

"You are…" Tsuna muttered in a daze.

The man smiled to the young child, a hand on his chest as he leaned to a graceful bow. "Hello, nice to meet you… Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun."

"…" Tsuna opened his mouth then closed it then opened it again. "Is it normal to say that to yourself?" He asked skeptically, "Vongola… Decimo."

The flame mask disappeared, revealing amber eyes that mirrored Tsuna's. And in instant the darkness melted and scenery of the sky repainted their surrounding. Vongola Decimo looked at Tsuna with amused smile on his face, the young child for a moment felt overwhelmed by intense gaze of his parallel counterpart. Decimo's eyes was the same amber shade but there was something in his eyes that made his looked like shimmering flame.

"You have awakened hyper intuition… " He drawled as he kneeled in front of Tsuna, so he was face to face to his younger counterpart. "Congratulation."

"... Who are you?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, "You… 're not really..." Hyper intuition was an odd power, Tsuna decided. It felt like fragmented clues he naturally knew, but he had to put it together himself. "Him… you're also much older than the you I saw in the memory."

"Decimo nodded, "And yes, I am not here in person… " He admitted with a smile, "I am what you would call… " He trailed off, "An avatar." At curious look the younger counterpart he added in amused tone. "I am the embodiment of Vongola Decimo's memory within you. I am not him but you can say… I am part of him." He titled his head to the side, "As for why I looks much older… Vongola Decimo is twenty one years old, memory you have experienced so far is when he was fourteen."

Tsuna didn't know what to make of that explanation, if this person was not the real Vongola Decimo… on second though this was not even a person. "Why?" It escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

Why? One word that could convey thousand of questions on his mind. "Why indeed." The avatar agreed, "Why I was given to you…" He hummed, "Whether or not I will answer that question it depends on your answer to this question." Tsuna raised an eyebrow, a test? "To you this memory of mine… is it a curse? Or a blessing?"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes, wondering if this a sign that Vongola Decimon could be careless of what would become of him because of the memory. "Both." He answered, gritting his teeth. "It's a curse… to know what my father is leading my brother to a life of organized crime in industry of violence, that he is going to lead the bloodiest and strongest mafia famiglia in the world and in the process he has to face what _you_ have been through!"

The avatar of memory didn't even flinch when Tsuna raised his voice, "For a ten years old, you sounds smarter than most children." He shrugged, "Then again back when I was fourteen I wasn't the sharpest tool on the shed."

"… I know." He replied dryly.

The avatar rolled his eyes,"So… you better off ignorant of what would become of your brother then?" The avatar asked.

Tsuna gritted his teeth, "No, I would rather know… than to be in the dark." He said waspishly. "Can't say the same about our no good father though, what he's thinking?! Famiglia is more important than family to him! That man…"

"I concur."

"This coming from a mafia boss?" Tsuna asked in incredulous tone.

The avatar snorted, "The mafia boss who kicked his father out of his office and ordered him to spend the rest of his retirement at home _with_ his wife."

Tsuna looked at his parallel counterpart's avatar incredulously, "You fired him?"

He shrugged, "The perk of being Vongola boss… " He admitted, "But I didn't do it out of spite, but because it's about time. After he forgot to celebrate their 25th anniversary, I deemed it justified… I don't need an advisor that I even couldn't trust to go home in time for his wife."

"Oh." Tsuna had to say he was not as innocent as he thought, he and his parallel counterpart. There was an undeniable pleasure to know that his father (in parallel world) got his just deserts. "I still don't want to be any part of it though… mafia." No matter how tempting the thought of firing his father.

The avatar shook his head with amused smile on his face, "Would never dream of it. Must be tough… to experience the life of a mafia boss in training, not to mention one like me who's prone to get himself in trouble."

Tsuna sighed at that, "But even so I can't deny its blessing."

He blinked owlishly at Tsuna, "Pardon me, but did you say my memory has its blessing?"

The young child nodded at that, "I wouldn't become who I am now without it."

"…"

"When you read a story… don't you think there's always a favorite character to you?" Tsuna began as he laughed softly, "Whenever I read a book I always feels drawn to its world. It's a similar sensation but stronger when I experience your memory."

Vongola Decimo smiled at the young child, "Am I your favorite character then?"

"No." He retorted dryly, "Don't you think it's narcissistic if you're?"

The avatar blinked at that statement before he winced, "Ouch." He grinned sheepishly, "If you put it that way…" He trailed off. "Then who? Reborn?"

Tsuna flushed pink at that; then again this was his parallel self. "His spartan teaching method aside…" The avatar nodded in agreement, "He is a constant presence in your life… he taught you not just how to be a boss but a better person. He pushed you to your limit… he trusted you more than anyone… "

"He is." The older counterpart agreed wholeheartedly.

Tsuna gritted his teeth, "But more than anything… he is your _first_ friend."

"…"

"…"

There was a spell of silence as both of them were speechless, or rather the avatar was. Tsuna was waiting for some sort of response but his statement made his counterpart tongue-tied. The spell of silence was broken by soft laughter from the avatar that soon grew to outright laugher. "Ha ha ha… I can't believe this, ha ha ha… "

"I fail to see the humor." Tsuna said dryly.

"Well… " The tenth boss muttered in between barely stifled laughter. "While I'll proudly call him a mentor, comrade in arms and a father figure on his face…" He trailed off, "If I dare to call him a friend, I am sure Reborn would hit me… " Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, "Not that he doesn't think the same, but he is a closet tsundere and so proud… I won't dare. And here… you, a ten years old dare to say what a mafia boss like me wouldn't even dare to say inwardly."

Tsuna gaped at that, "It's not like Reborn could read your mind."

"He acted like he could." He retorted wryly, "It never hurt to be careful." He pointed out with a grin, "But please don't tell me the best blessing my memory gave you is only Reborn's teaching, that's one scary thought that my parallel self is a masochist."

Tsuna shook his head fervently at that, "I did say I don't really… like his Spartan ways." He muttered weakly, "It's my friends… if not for you I wouldn't meet my friends…" Tsuna clenched his fist, "They're a family I treasure more than anything in the world, they... are my life and world. I would die for them. There are no lengths I wouldn't go through to protect their lives..."

He smiled at that, "Is that your resolve?"

"Yes." The young child answered without a hint of doubt.

The older Tsuna looked at his younger counterpart in awe. So young and yet he had the same resolve. Maybe Reborn's trust in him was not that baseless, this child had realized that resolve because of the memory and didn't regret it at all. "I see… it seems Byakuran's choice is not wrong." If he couldn't trust this child, who could? He and this child were one and the same, at least in soul. "Very well… Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Eh?" Tsuna's eyes widened when the tenth boss raised a flaming forefinger to his forehead, "What are you…"

The Vongola Decimo smiled at Tsuna but it quickly replaced by solemn expression that mirrored their ancestor in trial he faced years ago. "I am Vongola Decimo… accept your determination Sawada Tsunayoshi." He muttered calmly, "To prosper or to ruin, walk on your own chosen path… may my memory serve as guidance to you. A blessing and a curse it might be… but you shall have no regrets. Your whole life shall be your own…" The moment the last word escaped his lips; the flame grew stronger and enveloped Tsuna's body.

"Wa… wait." This was a trial?! But he didn't have Vongola ring with him! Tsuna's eyes grew wide when the form of Vongola decimo burned and become just a fragment burning flame. "You haven't answer my question!"

Tsuna's consciousness suddenly faded, and he struggled to reach out to the sky flame. A deep voice of Vongola Decimo echoed on his mind, "This memory is given to you to protect your world… to finish what I and Mare Sky guardian started. Grow stronger… so you could protect those you hold dear… Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"You and Mare… sky guardian? What do…" He never finished his sentence as darkness once again enveloped him and he knew no more.

"May we meet again one day, then again both of us know… this is not the last encounter between you and me…"

* * *

><p>"What the…"<p>

Tsuna found himself in hospital _again _not with a headache the size of Japan but aching pain all over his body. It felt like he had just run himself ragged all over. The memory that the pain was a familiar one from his parallel self helped him to cope with it somehow. It was not less pleasant at any rate.

However the pain was the last thing on his mind the moment he laid his eyes on his mother. She was asleep in a spare bed near his. He looked at the clock and realized it was late at night so it was understandable only his mother allowed to stay with him. Or so he thought.

The door opened, revealing Hayato and Takeshi. "Tsuna…" They whispered as rushed to his side, careful to not make too much noise because Nana was sleeping. "You're awake."

He nodded, "You guys still here? How?"

Takeshi grinned, "We sneaked in of course! You've been sleeping the whole day!"

Hayato nodded, "According to Kirishima-sensei." The one who was in charge of Tsuna. "It's just a first degree burn, so it will heal nicely in less than one week."

Tsuna blinked at that, "How you guys explain this burn to them?"

"Uh… Innocenti pulled some strings plus mild hypnosis." Hayato explained haltingly, "And… a bit of lie that we played firecracker in the middle of the night, we're careless and… yeah."

Tsuna sweat-dropped at that, "But… that won't explain why I have it all over my hands."

"That's what the hypnosis is for." Hayato added with a sigh.

"… How my mother react to my condition?" he asked worriedly.

Takeshi patted his shoulder comfortingly, "She is worried but she take it well… you acted carelessly like boys your age would she said… you're just being a boy."

Tsuna sighed in relieve, "Thanks God… " There was a reason why until today Nana never questioned his father's questionable profession. It was just in her mother's nature to trust her beloved one with all her heart. "Let's go out for a bit, I want to ask you guys about a few things."

* * *

><p><strong>Ten minutes later… hospital rooftop<strong>

It was quiet there, not to mention devoid of life. Thankfully because it was summer at night it was warm. "Then how about Nagi and his friends? The Phantasma circus?"

Hayato and Takeshi looked at each other then began to explain what happened after Tsuna fell unconscious. The circus members were caught by Namimori police officers Innocenti called, the reason why none of them escaped was because Rin had planted a trap on every exit door of their tent, a trap that would activate her sleeping fragrance which knocked all of them out cold until they were arrested.

"So... Thomas Fudge and his criminal group are in jail now?"

Hayato nodded, "Cops were itching for years to catch them, according to Innocenti they'll be a regular fixture in some high security prison in Cuba." He said, snickering all the while as imagining the horrible man and his band of scum rotting in prison.

"... Why Cuba?" Tsuna was curious, though having Phantasma group far away from Japan and Nagi was a good thing in his opinion.

Hayato craned his neck, a gesture Tsuna saw quite often when Hayato was talking about something unpleasant. "Some security shit and political stuff... they're wanted all over the world, so rather than having cops fighting over where the scums going to spend the rest their miserable life behind the bar… they chose to put them in a prison in Cuba. A high security prison like Alcatraz… "

Tsuna nodded at that, "The clown… that person…" Tsuna muttered hesitantly, "How is he?"

The berserk clown was arrested too, and aside from second degree burn on his hands, there's no life threatening injury. However he was already in acute state because of drugs, he won't live a long life. Tsuna didn't know what to think of that, but anyone who used drug should know it was stepping one leg to the death door.

Nagi was fine considering what she had been through; after the magician girl was saved she was also brought to hospital for a health check. Nagi was malnourished, exhausted and her injury she suffered from abuse while not severe needed medical attention. Her clown friend was still in examination process, the blood test won't be out until tomorrow morning. And until then they won't know Allen's condition.

"That's good." At the very least they're going to get they needed treatment now. Tsuna looked hesitant for a moment then he opened his mouth, "Uhm… guys, could you believe what I dreamed about just now?"

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><p><strong>Shamal's house, Palermo<strong>

"Dying will flame exhaustion?" Lancia repeated what Shamal told him in disbelief. "How come? Mukuro is not even using his flame for anything! Heck! I don't even know if he could use it!"

"…" Shamal sighed, he and Lancia were thoroughly exhausted after arranging a quick funeral for Lancia's famiglia and they still had to discuss about Mukuro's condition. "The brat is the survivor of Estraneo famiglia. Who knows what's wrong…"

Lancia gritted his teeth, he had found out of Mukuro's old famiglia after Shamal examined the boy's body. The body modification technique was the trademark of the said famiglia. "Can you do something?"

Shamal shook his head, "Believe it or not, for now the brat's fine. He stopped using his flame for a while now… I still have no idea why? Or what he used the flame for… from what I saw, he did it voluntarily."

"So what should we do now?" Lancia asked.

The mafia doctor titled his head to the side. "Give him time to recover…enough nutrition and so on, nothing I haven't done… once the brat woke up, ask him yourself."

"I will."

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><p>"Oh…" Takeshi gave him the Takeshi-ish reaction after his best friend told him about his dream, not the usual one but not less important. "Cool!"<p>

"Idiot!" Hayato smacked Takeshi on his shoulder, "Tsuna-sama just said a life-changing event he just experienced and your reaction is 'Oh, cool!' say something smarter!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped at them, Hayato was still easily irritated by Takeshi who acted like Takeshi-ish. It seemed there was no helping in their team's dynamic, they were still friends nonetheless. "Eh… so what do you think?"

"…"

"…"

"So there's a reason why we got this memory and not 'just' a coincidence." Hayato concluded in serious tone. "By now we have experienced their memory until they defeated Byakuran…" Tsuna and Takeshi nodded in agreement. "So… there's something unfinished from that conflict between Mare and Vongola…"

Tsuna nodded, "And also… we come to know that… Vongola Primo and Decimo are different from other Vongola bosses."

"Hm…" Takeshi titled his head to the side, "True owners huh… but what that make of Second to Ninth bosses then?"

Tsuna titled his head to the side, a solemn expression on his face. "After that encounter… I realized there's one memory that left out."

"Eh?"

"I remember there's a trial my parallel counterpart have been through but I don't remember what happened in that trial at all." Tsuna explained solemnly, "Whether it's on purpose or accidental… there's must be a reason why only that one memory is left out. And what differ Primo and Decimo with the rest of Vongola bosses have something to do with it…"

Hayato contemplated Tsuna's words, his hand cupped his chin and he was deep in thought. "Is there… a difference between just 'accepted' and 'inherited' in the trial?"

"Eh?"

"If that's the case…" Hayato trailed off, "The second through ninth boss are merely 'guardian' of the ring but never its true owner." He concluded. "Hm… it's like Primo just lend them the rings, and Decimo is the only one who he gave the ownership to."

Tsuna gulped at that, if that was the case then he was… "Hayato… if that's what you said, do you mean… I maybe… also?"

Hayato and Takeshi looked at each other then back to Tsuna. "Ugh… we're not sure it a 'maybe' but…"

"I don't want it!" Tsuna shook his head. "My brother is chosen for that position!"

Hayato rubbed the back of his head, "He probably will become like Nonno… just the guardian. I never meet your brother Tsuna-sama, so I don't know…"

"Well… "Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, "He acted like Tou-san most of the time. "So I don't know either if Primo is going to accept him the way he accepted Decimo."

Takeshi hummed thoughtfully at that. "Oh… by the way remember that Byakuran told us about that pink haired duo?" Takeshi chimed in, "They gave the ring to Byakuran out of nowhere!"

Trust Takeshi to be so observant for the worse possibility, "That can't be happening to Vongola ring! Nonno and his guardians have it! So…" Tsuna trailed off but slapped his forehead in frustration when the memory of ring battle resurfaced. "Argh! Who am I talking about! They have their way to infiltrate any famiglia, they declared themselves Nonno's representative of all things when they became referees for ring battle!"

"… So?" Takeshi blurted out.

"So what baseball idiot?" Hayato asked testily.

"Are we going to refuse them when they shove the rings to Tsuna like they did Byakuran or what?" He asked thoughtfully.

Hayato nodded in agreement begrudgingly, "They seem to be type who will resort to anything to reach their objective… it's unlikely saying no is an option." He muttered, recalling how the duo brought injured Lambo to ring battle in spite of their protest.

Tsuna couldn't deny that could happen, heck! It happened. "I will be ready for it, as if they could shove Vongola to me just because of destiny garbage! I won't let them!"

"True…" Hayato and Takeshi nodded in agreement, "But ready in what definition? Tsuna-sama?" Hayato asked skeptically. "Ready in physical power definitely is not it."

Tsuna blinked owlishly at Hayato, "You're right Hayato… ready in physical power is going to backfire." He groaned in frustration, "If anything… is my increasing reputation in school is doing me good or the opposite?" He wondered out loud.

Takeshi hummed at that, "Oh yeah… Tsuna in parallel world was overlooked because the other four candidates were much better than him in their opinion…" He muttered, recalling their conversation with Basil before sky battle. "But since Parallel Tsuna is chosen in the end, being ordinary is not going to deter them right?!"

"And there's a probability since your brother and Xanxus are the one who maybe would fight over the rings…" Which might happen or not at all. "Tsuna-sama is still excluded."

"That's good right?" Takeshi chimed in.

"Until when?"

"…"

"… And Vongola didn't have the most splendid history with protecting their heir." Hayato added, then he shot apologetic look at Tsuna. "I am sorry but… " It's true, he added silently.

Tsuna shook his head, "I know… considering what my parallel self have been through, it's a miracle he survive everything…" He sighed at that, "I would never forgive my father if we lost Natsu…" He gritted his teeth, "The least he could do is keeping him safe until he is strong enough to protect himself. And as much as I hate to admit it, he is the only one I can count on now to keep my brother safe."

"… Tsuna." Takeshi murmured.

"But doesn't mean I won't prepare myself…" Tsuna said in determined voice, "I am the one who choose my own life, and for that I will do anything… to keep our family away from mafia world."

"… And we will be with you!" Takeshi said as he hugged Tsuna from behind cheerfully.

Hayato scowled at the baseball idiot, "Let him go!"

"You want a hug too Hayato?" Takeshi asked. "Aww, we can have a group hug! Don't be jealous!

"Idiot!" Hayato growled, flushing a deep red.

The door to the rooftop suddenly opened, startling Tsuna and his friends. They blinked owlishly when they saw the white haired youth entered their vision, "Allen-san?" Tsuna called him, "What're you doing here? You should be resting!"

Allen smiled at the three children, "I will… but there's someone I would like you to meet." There was an eerie feeling about him, and it was familuar. Tsuna paused at that reply, a familiar feeling suddenly invaded his sense. Allen's body slowly shrouded by mist, "Ku fu fu fu…"

"Mukuro… " Tsuna called out, startling Hayato and Takeshi in the process.

Hayato gaped at him, "Mukuro?! How?!"

A dark haired boy stepped out from the blanket of mist, he was slightly older than Tsuna and dressed in white shirt and pants. "Hello Sawada Tsunayoshi… this is the first time I meet you, not exactly face to face but close enough…"

Hayato and Takeshi moved forward, none of them trusted Mukuro to not harm Tsuna. At least the last memory they experienced, Mukuro was still an enemy, one that was still biding his time nonetheless. "What do you want?"

Mukuro raised his hands in placating gesture, "Rest assured… I don't have the same intention as my parallel-self."

Hayato narrowed his eyes at the illusionist, "And you think we can just trust you? In this world we're no guardians and there's no contract formed between you and us… "

Mukuro raised an eyebrow at Hayato, "Why don't you just ask Tsunayoshi, even if I am a good liar I am surely not so stupid to lie in front of him."

After a beat Tsuna nodded, "He is not lying." Tsuna confirmed, "He is telling us the truth." Hayato looked back and forth between Mukuro and Tsuna but neither he nor Takeshi moved from their spot. "However… I would like to inquire why you show yourself now? Since you possessed Allen-san, that's mean you have been with Nagi for quite some time." Tsuna concluded as his eyes narrowed at Mukuro. A smile grazed his lips, "If that's the case there's no reason to doubt you anymore…"

"… But Tsuna." Takeshi protested.

Tsuna laughed softly, "You have been protecting Nagi, didn't you?"

They were expecting Mukuro to deny that, or even spin the fact that it was for his own gain but he did none of that. "Correct… I have protected her for almost half a year…" He placed his hand right above his heart, "This body is the closest one with her that compatible with me that I could possess." He looked at Tsuna; his expression was nothing like one Tsuna had seen in their dream. He looked sad and almost… hesitate?

"Where're you now?" Tsuna asked again.

Mukuro sighed at that, "Italy… with your ex-guardian, Gokudera Hayato…"

It took a while for the silver haired boy to process that information. "Shamal?!" Hayato shouted in disbelief, "Why the hell you're there?!"

"A patient." He replied curtly. "And believe me, do you think I can harm him? He is out of my league." The illusionist pointed out, "The current me is still too weak, even possessing this man take a toll on me,"

Tsuna looked at Hayato warningly, "Hayato, Takeshi… let's set what happened in parallel world with Mukuro aside." Hayato and Takeshi flinched guiltily, "So far he spoke nothing but truth, let Mukuro explain himself."

Mukuro grinned haughtily at Hayato and Takeshi, which the former took as a challenge but didn't act upon it because Tsuna would be upset. "Kufu fu fu…Very well… I come to warn you about what happened in Italy. It probably… have connection with why we were given this memory by our parallel counterpart."

Hayato snorted, "You eavesdropped our conversation huh?"

"Ku fu fu fu…" Mukuro just chuckled amusedly. "Pretty much, before it's just a guess but with what I heard from Tsunayoshi... there's a probability… "

Tsuna gulped "Mukuro? What happened in Italy?" Tsuna asked fearfully, dread washed over his mind as waiting for Mukuro to answer. His brother and father were there, he hoped it was not related to them.

Mukuro gritted his teeth, "A Massacre... three famiglie were destroyed in the last three weeks."

Tsuna's mouth went dry, "What... fa"

The mist didn't let Tsuna to finish, "Estraneo... famiglia I used to belong to, Serpente... Lancia's famiglia." Mukuro snapped when he saw Hayato was about to open his mouth, "It's not ME! I was sleeping in Palermo! In Shamal's clinic, when it happened."

"Sorry." Hayato grumbled.

"The third was Bovino."

"WHAT?!" Their eyes went wide, not because they cared less of the first two Mukuro mentioned. "But Bovino still exist in the world of their memory!" Tsuna pointed out, "Even though some things are different from that world…"

Mukuro nodded at that, "If it's just normal feud I won't bother to tell you, but… the culprit of the three massacre is probably the same group or person."

Hayato eyed Mukuro skeptically, "What make you arrive to that conclusion?"

"The same way it happened." Mukuro answered in a heartbeat, "No one see _its _coming, no one know how _it _happened, and no one comprehend what _it _left on _its _wake."

Tsuna and his friends looked at Mukuro with no little amount of disbelief, but they trusted what he said but not how such thing could happened. "You talked as if this _it_ is a disaster." Tsuna pointed out.

"One of Lancia's subordinate, Chiaro… he called it a 'white demon' with his dying breath." Mukuro muttered as he gritted his teeth. "I overheard him talking about it with Shamal…" Mukuro trailed off waspishly, "According to Chiaro, he only saw one of the culprits…" Then he quickly added, "That if he is with someone, but Lancia didn't dismiss the possibility the demon is strong enough to do the deed himself."

"Shiroi… Akuma?" Takeshi muttered hesitantly.

Mukuro titled his head to Takeshi's direction, "According to Chiaro he was dressed in all white, his hair is white too…" And then he continued to recite what he overheard from Lancia and Shamal's conversation, including the man's penchant to quote Shakespeare and his theatrics in carnage.

"Could it be Byakuran?!" Hayato growled, "That bastard!"

"We can't tell for sure." Mukuro didn't dismiss the possibility, "But isn't it weird he killed them but not me?" He pointed at his chest. "In fact I escaped from Estraneo much earlier than my parallel self did because they were attacked."

Tsuna's eyes widened at that, "You were there?!"

Mukuro nodded, "I didn't see a thing, after the scientists of Estraneo implanted this eyes onto me." He pointed at his red eyes, "I was in coma for six month, six days and six hours."

They gasped at the information, Mukuro was in coma?! "You're in coma?!"

He nodded, "Yes… in that period of time it's a gamble, whether I would be killed or survived the procedure of sixth path or reincarnation." He narrowed his eyes as an amused smile grazed his lips. "My parallel counterpart didn't lie about his reincarnation, that's what happened to me when I was in coma for that period of time… treading between the line of life and death. Going through each realm as a test of my worth for power…" He narrated theatrically, "Details of my reincarnation circle aside, my _beloved_ famiglia was killed and I woke up only to find they're gone and their research facility was in ruin."

"No survivor?" Hayato asked skeptically.

Mukuro shook his head, "Unfortunately none." Which was unfortunate to Mukuro because he didn't kill them himself. "From what I have seen, when I wake up they were killed just a night before… a very funnily _convenient_ timing." He emphasized the word with a wave of his forefinger.

"The same happened to Lancia's famiglia, I fell sick to sustain my possession over this man… even though he is willing… " He trailed off with a sigh, "Those scums who called themselves circus are nomads, the distance is taking a toll to this young body." He added, "It's also oddly _convenient_ timing, they were killed when Lancia and I went to Palermo."

"… "Tsuna felt the dread that washed over him came three times stronger. "Someone… is behind this? And they're after us? Could that be?" He wondered out loud, "But why they killed Bovino too?" Tsuna gasped in shock, as he recalled one important object the famiglia possessed. "Ten years Later Bazooka!"

"That dreaded thing!" Hayato scowled, "What happened to that thing?!"

Mukuro shrugged, "Who knows, for all we know that thing might not have been developed by them… not yet."

Hayato had to agree with Mukuro, "Yeah… I recall in parallel world when we were thirteen that thing was still a prototype."

"It's a dangerous little thing…" Mukuro muttered in amused tone, "Let's just hope that bazooka is not exist in this world rather than in the hand of white demon."

That was not a good enough prospect in Tsuna's mind, forget hiding themselves from mafia. There's someone plotting in the shadow, with a shceme that might involved them. Vongola was not the main concern here, this white demon Mukuro told them was. "Mukuro… out of all of us, Hayato excluded… you're the one who is the most experienced in mafia world…"

"Yes." Mukuro answered with a smirk.

"What will happen with those three famiglie out of the picture?" Tsuna asked solemnly, "What's the worse outcome?"

Mukuro grinned at that, "I see you know the worth of information." He chuckled softly, "Estraneo and Bovino are minor famiglie… they're more brain with almost nonexistent brawn in mafia world… they didn't even have territory on their own so the lost of them only cost mafia world their research and technology… " He explained.

Tsuna knew Bovino boss was Lambo's father, but the man had abandoned his only son in favor for his genius nephew. The reason the man put Lambo in his aunt's care. Innocenti and Rin would freak when they received the news but Tsunayoshi doubted they would grief for the man who abandoned their nephew and sister.

"Lancia's famiglia in the other hand." Mukuro sighed tiredly, "There's going to be an uproar in Northern Italy, but since the power difference between the second and third strongest in that area is very far there wouldn't be much power struggle… Lancia already negotiated with the second… or rather the current strongest famiglia in Northern Italy. The boss of Cornatta famiglia owed Lancia a life debt… so there's won't be much fuss either."

"…" Hayato eyed Mukuro skeptically, "But that bastard white demon said their destruction is going to cause something big right?"

He nodded, "Yes, but as for now… while it effect the mafia world as a whole it won't do a thing to you who lives in Japan…" Mukuro explained.

"… So what will you suggest us to do?" Tsuna asked in serious tone. "I am sure you know I and my friends don't want to be involved in mafia _at all_ and you would want the same for Nagi."

Mukuro looked amused by his request, "Oh yes… understood, we have the same objective in this world so I don't see why I shouldn't cooperate with you."

"Friends?" Tsuna offered his hand.

"… You must be kidding me." Mukuro crossed his arms, "Cooperating with you for Nagi's sake is fine, but friends? No thank you. Try again." He said scathingly. "Give me a reason why I should sake your hand Tsunayoshi, because I know you… I don't have to be your friends to get you and your friends to protect Nagi."

Tsuna sighed, Mukuro and Kyouta were always like this even in this world. Both of them were proud bastard, Kyoya won't give in so easily unless you earned his trust, while Mukuro always wanted a give and take. "Mukuro… you really…" Tsuna began but paused when he felt a hand accepted his.

"Just kidding." Mukuro grinned, "Friends?"

"…If you're not being sincere about it don't." Tsuna rubbed his temple, at Mukuro's inquiring look he sighed. "I am understand Mukuro, I have to earn that right or something along that line?"

Hayato growled at Mukuro, "Tsuna-sama saved Nagi! Bastard, is that not enough for you?!"

Takeshi nodded in agreement, "We should be friends!"

"As far as I am concerned Hibari Kyouya is not part of your group." He bit down _'yet' _he almost blurted out. "So why should I? He join your group when it suits his fancy and I would like to do the same…"

Hayato and Takeshi looked at him in disbelief; Mukuro and Kyouya hadn't even met face to face but already competing in ego department? "Unbelievable… " Hayato 's left eyebrow twitched as he voiced their thought out loud. "How selfish you and that skylark could get?"

Mukuro harrumphed, "One thing I have to admit we share is dignity." He admitted loftily.

"You mean plain selfishness." Hayato corrected dryly.

Tsuna shook his head in amusement, "Hayato enough, it's just the way Mukuro is… for now I will take what I can get."

"Wise decision." Mukuro admitted then he sighed tiredly. "I am getting tired of this possession… so I will go back to my original body for now."

Tsuna nodded at that. "Well… see you again Mukuro."

Mukuro turned on his heel, "Oh and one more thing." He paused in mid step, "About your question about what you should do next…"

Tsuna blinked at that, he thought Mukuro was not willing to answer that one answer. The illusionist had spun the topic away from that one question and Tsuna didn't press him for an answer. "Yes?"

"Now you and your friends are nobody in society… while a small city like this will make a fuss if something happened to a bunch of brats, it will quickly drowned down and covered by mafia…" Mukuro pointed out.

Hayato snarled, "As if we need you to tell us that!"

Tsuna looked somber at the warning, it was true that if he and his friends were to be targeted… mafia could cover it easily. That was how defenseless civilian was in the eyes of underground society. "I see… understood."

Mukuro nodded, "Good, I don't care how you do it Tsunayoshi… but do us proud and climb the ladder of society you insisted so much to live in. It would be a shame to have a weak sky like you…"

Tsuna blinked at that, "Why… thank you Mukuro, I promise I will be a worthy sky the next time we meet." He said loftily as a smile curved his lips.

Mukuro flushed when he realized what he had called Tsuna as, it seemed melancholy had caught him off guard. He in fact shared the same longing Nagi had. He and Nagi were always one kindred soul, suffering and long for a salvation. Tsuna and his friends had saved Nagi whereas he couldn't, that was one thing he owed them. He didn't want to outright admit it, if the skylark had not admitted it why should he? Beside Tsuna should know where their alliance lied.

He quickly schooled his expression back to his usual smug smile. "Farewell…" And then the illusionist disappeared as his body shrouded in mist, leaving unconscious Allen on the ground.

"… Bastard, he leave us to bring this guy back to his room!" Hayato growled as he eyed the white haired youth irately.

Yamamoto just laughed, "Come on, we should bring Allen-san back to his room before he get cold!" Tsuna just laughed at his friends banter over how they should bring the older boy that much heavier than they were.

He was happy because he had recovered the last piece of his world. Mist was untouchable and shrouded in mystery, hanging right above the land as if it was the farthest fragment from the sky. But even so it was always part of the sky, and mist would always reappear to shroud the sky in its protective veil.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Week<strong>

Chrome and Allen were still in hospital recovering from their ordeal, and while it would be a week till Nagi was fit to be released from the hospital, it would take Allen longer but the doctors were sure he would make a full recovery. Rin was delighted about adopting both of them to her family, while Innocenti was just resigned that his mansion was going to be more crowded. Tsuna was released from hospital the day before and he was happy to return to school again. He had a lot to catch up, but thanks to Hayato's note he would manage.

While Hayato was a genius, his writing left much to be desired, he spent most of his life in Italy after all so his writing in Japanese characters was still shaky. Lately Hayato had been skipping his writing practice, much to Innocenti's ire. The scientist couldn't really reprimand Hayato about it, the boy was busy with something else that was more important than the said practice. Tsuna had to wonder what occupied Hayato that he didn't even have time for practicing his skill. Speaking of Hayato's mysterious activity, Takeshi was involved for sure. They were not the epitome of subtlety, especially with their habit of scheming in the corner when Innocenti was around. Innocenti had implied not so subtly that Hibari of all people had a hand too. That was a scary prospect, something had made Hibari deign to give Hayato and Takeshi a hand.

Whatever it was, Tsuna just hoped it was nothing that could get them in trouble. That hope was squashed the moment he stepped into the school ground. Kyouko and Ryohei was the first who welcome him back to school, Kyouko gave him a hearty hug. Ryohei was patting his shoulder and complimented his extremeness that landed him in hospital. Why Ryohei's voice was hoarse and he didn't shout? They were not the one Tsuna was worried about, it was everyone else in the vicinity just kind of continued to stare at the three of them with a mixture or horror, awe, and confusion on their faces.

God, it was only one week of absence from school, what's the worse thing could happen in that period of time? Then again judging from his experience of leaving Hayato, Takeshi and Lambo in the same room for fifteen minutes without supervision to make tea... A LOT. They destroyed a good chunk of living room. Imagine one week, and Hibari was involved. He didn't dare to ask Kyouko and Ryohei, especially since their sunny disposition made them immune of whatever that made school's general population quivering in fear. They probably were as clueless as he was, or at least knew what happened but didn't see it in the same perspective as general populace did.

Sometimes the sunny siblings worried him more than his other friends did. That was a _scary_ thought.

Kyouko walked with him to their classroom, his hyper intuition said that people won't stop staring so stop hoping they would. He wished the intuition could tell him what made them stare, and how to stop it. This hyper intuition definitely was not an Infinity+1 Sword. When he entered the classroom, he expected the same stares but before he could check if that was the case Hana had blocked his view from the rest of the room.

"Ohayo, Tsuna~" She greeted him. Hayato and Takeshi were not in class it seemed, they would have beaten Hana in greeting him first.

Tsuna blinked at her, she looked greatly amused by his presence. "Ohayo Hana-chan, uhm... could you let me sit first?" He asked timidly.

Hana nodded and walked him to his chair. After he put down his backpack and sat down, Hana borrowed the chair beside his that belonged to Takeshi. "Now Tsuna, could you tell me what you did to get Hibari-san under your thumb."

Did she just say what he thought she did? Yes, his hyper intuition answered promptly. "Un... under my thumb?" Tsuna echoed, painfully aware that everyone in class was pretending doing something else but paying rapt attention to their conversation. "I am afraid I don't understand." He stated solemnly, "What made you think _Hibari-san_ is under my thumb?" He stressed the name, which was the epitome of aloofness and independence.

Hana raised an eyebrow at Tsuna, any other day she would believe the boy but not today. "Then why he deem you worthy to be elected?"

"Huh?" The brunette blinked owlishly, "Elected?" Tsuna echoed, after a beat. "As what?"

Now both of her eyebrows were raised at him, "Wow... so you..." She stammered, "Really are clueless of what happened in the last few days in school, and not plotting world domination in your hospital bed."

Now it was Tsuna's turn raising an eyebrow at the curly haired girl, "What make you think I was plotting world domination on my hospital bed? Or why I would want world domination in the first place?"

"Point." She admitted, but not quite convinced yet about the first denial concerning Hibari. "But it's not everyday Hibari-san cast his vote when it comes to Student Council election, he usually didn't care..."

Tsuna blinked and blinked again, "Student Council?" They were as good as nothing but a parade of figureheads. They were elected by student vote but just like the rest of faculty, they obeyed Hibari in fear he would bite them. "I am at a lost now Hana-chan, I was in hospital for over a week and when I come back to school-everyone is staring at me as if I am a criminal walking in their midst-so please, enlighten me of what happened in my absence." He droned.

Hana shook her head, "You really don't know."

"I thought we established that already?" Tsuna pointed out.

"We did." Hana agreed, "I still want to know what did you do that made Hibari-san cast his vote for you to be elected as the next Kaichou/president of student council." Tsuna's eyes widened comically, he opened his mouth-closed it-opened-then promptly closed it again. "I think that broke you."

"No, continue please." Tsuna said, pushing his broken-mindedness for the time being in favor to get to the bottom of the conspiracy - if there was any to begin with.

"Three days after that circus disaster..." Which mean a day after their conversation with Mukuro, Tsuna noted. "Headmaster announced it's time to electing another council president." It was almost summer vacation, the normal timing for the change of member in club and other student bodies since their seniors were retiring for their final exam.

"Of course, your puppy number 1- Gokudera saw it fit to suggest you to sensei as our class' representative for election, and since you're goody-goody Tsuna who's always helpful to everyone... the whole class and sensei agreed with puppy number one that you're good for that job."

"Oh…" That made sense, but that didn't explain why everyone in school had started to fear him. "First of all… Please stop to refer to Hayato as puppy number 1! How does my election have anything to do with them staring at me like that?" He amended that in a beat as realization sank in, "Wait Hibari-san vouched for me?!"

Hana nodded, a grin formed on her lips. Much to Tsuna's plight, Hana was enjoying his predicament immensely. "Well... _kind of_, considering his personality it can be counted as vouching. The day after your name made it to the list of candidate, Hibari-san found out, and then barged in faculty members' meeting..."

"He _did_ what?!" Tsuna half-shouted in shock.

Hana looked unconcerned by Tsuna's growing anxiety, "I was around because sensei asked me to bring a document for her to the meeting, Hibari-san demanded them to stop wasting time with candidate's campaign and other herbivorous nonsense. Headmaster almost wet his pants, and asked if Hibari-san wanted them to stop the election all together."

Tsuna had to wonder again what Hibari had done to deserve such submission from 99% of Namimori's population. "Hibari-san pointed out the school still needs a student council and he definitely not going to deal with their paperwork if no council elected at all, and teachers shouldn't do student's job." Hana drawled nonchalantly, ignoring Tsuna's gaping mouth. "Things escalated when Hibari-san took candidates' profile from headmaster and shoved yours to his hand."

"Why me?" Tsuna lamented.

The dark haired girl nodded with a grin that almost maniacal, "He said... 'if herbivore needs a leader at least elect an omnivore to do the job.'"

"Omnivore?" Tsuna repeated dubiously, "Me?!"

She nodded again, "Perhaps I should congratulate you first that he promoted you to omnivore. You're deemed good enough to eat meat like him, congrats!" She said in sardonic theatrics.

Tsuna shook his head, "But still! Election is supposed to go through voting procedure! They can't just elect me because Hibari-san said so! Where's the democracy?!"

"There's not much of that in Namimori to begin with." Hana pointed out nonchalantly, with Tyrant Hibari on the loose there's no room for herbivorous democracy."But yeah... Hibari vouched for you but what he did is pretty much 'suggesting' you to faculty not demanding to get you on that seat, your other friends however..."

Here comes the dreaded, but after Hibari he didn't think they could do worse. "What did _they_ do?"

"They decided-since Tsuna was in hospital they should be the one who carried you campaign on." Hana cackled evilly, "Gokudera visited every single class and gave them ten minutes speech of why Sawada Tsunayoshi is the second coming of George Washington and Winston Churchill-_though most students didn't know the latter_-and even better..." Oh God, "Yamamoto did the same to sport clubs, though his speech is more to you being an awesome friend in general. Kyouko and I talked the girls about it, we didn't want to be left behind you see..."

He wondered if it was just his friend just pulling one hell of a prank on him. "And Ryohei... the moment he knew you're one of candidates, he thought it's a good idea to imitate the van with bullhorn our mayor used in his last campaign... so since then he ran around the school in break period, shouting 'Support Sawada, our next Kaichou!' and you know how loud he is... " That explained the hoarse voice of Ryohei.

Tsuna buried his face on his palms, he wished a hole would open and swallow him. Come to think of it again, Hayato did as Mukuro suggested. _Social ladder, my ass_. "Tell me Hibari-san stopped him." He begged.

"He did." Hana drawled, "Hibari went off to who knows where for three days after he crashed faculty meeting, so Ryohei campaigned you for a good three days with no one dared to stop him in fear they're going to be deaf. And even now almost everyone in school still feels funny on their ears after so much shouting on his part."

Tsuna looked up timidly at Hana, "That's going to make me the least liked candidate for sure..." He hoped.

"No. You think our campaign for you didn't gain you any support, don't you?" Hana squashed his hope like it was a bug, "In fact I think headmaster is going to announce that _you're_ chosen for the job in five minutes. We have morning assembly today, but you didn't know that for sure..."

"How do you know that I am going to get the job?" Tsuna asked, he was always hopeful no matter what.

Of course that hope died instantly _again_, "Sensei told me yesterday, she was ecstatic that a responsible boy like you is chosen. Miwako-sensei is so proud of you. General school population is torn between in awe and fear that you got Hibari, Ryohei, Gokudera and Yamamoto backing you up, mostly fear because you got Hibari to vouch for you."

"... Hana-chan."

"Yeah?"

"Schadenfreude is not nice." He pointed out dryly.

Hana raised an eyebrow, "Scha-what? Pardon me, but I am not a literature prodigy like you so I am lacking in vocabulary." She muttered wryly. "Using big words like a politician now I see..."

"It's not a big word, basically you're happy because I am not." Tsuna muttered tiredly.

"I am happy that you're miserable with your promotion." Hana admitted sardonically, "But hey... life is going to be more interesting from now on for you."

Tsuna sighed at that, "I am perfectly content with a boring life, thank you."

"Just take it like a man, or at least pretend to be as happy as your friends." Hana said as she gestured to Hayato and Takeshi who had just entered the room.

They spotted him right away, Takeshi grinned from ear to ear while Hayato was staring at him with stars of admiration in his eyes. "Ohayo Tsuna-kaichou!" They chorused.

_My head hurts_, he thought as he rubbed his throbbing cranium.

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, a short speech from the shaky headmaster later, Tsuna was called to stand in the podium with Hayato in tow since he was chosen as vice-prez. The previous Kaichou, a brunette sixth grader with thick glasses named Gurio Umino. According to rumors, at first he was a fairly handsome lad. However since he became student council his glasses became thicker and thicker because of working on paperwork like a mad man. He always worked like mad in fear if he slack off, Hibari would bit him. Umino looked so relieved as he shook Tsuna's hand, crying waterfall tears as he handed Tsuna a document as part of the ceremony.<p>

Everyone held their breath when Hibari jumped from random branch to the podium, wondering if it was an apocalypse over their head that Hibari deign to join the crowd.

Tsuna however didn't share their opinion, "Hello, Hibari-san it's been a while." He bowed to the feared prefect.

Hibari returned his greeting with a grunt. "Do a good job, omnivore." He said solemnly, "Or I will bite you to death."

Hayato would have jump to Tsuna's defense but when Tsuna raised his hand to block his advance to Hibari, Hayato knew Tsuna didn't want him to fight Hibari. "Actually Hibari-san, I haven't give my consent to this position."

The skylark grunted, eyeing Tsuna with his steel colored eyes. "What's your objection with this position omnivore?"

Tsuna sighed, "For one, I am not sure if majority of my voters voted because they believe in me or they're just scared of you." He said, loud and clear enough to be heard by students who stood in the front rows. He didn't have to be loud enough to reach the last row, he knew from whispering noise that it's going to reach the last row in no time.

"Hn, perhaps..." He grunted.

All students and teachers minus Tsuna's friend gasped in shock, that _Hibari-san_ 'somewhat' agreed with someone. Sawada Tsunayoshi was truly someone to be feared!

Hibari crossed his arms, and straightened his back. It was impressive how a twelve year old could be so intimidating. "You're qualified for the job, I have seen it myself. You are an omnivore."

Another gasp, _Hibari-san_ acknowledged Sawada Tsunayoshi!

Tsuna sighed, knowing what Hibari saw that made him acknowledge the brunette. "Hibari-san, that's doesn't justify my quality as a leader." He pointed out austerely. Then with a voice above whisper he added, _"Not for the rest of students of our school."_ He did save his friends, fighting on his own ground against a bunch of criminals, but none of that justify he was fit to lead as a president. He would lead his friends for their sake because he knew they acknowledge him as such willingly, but these students in the other hand...

_He disagreed with Hibari-san! _They thought in awe.

With each word exchanged between them the crowd grew restless, while Tsuna and Hibari were still locked in their argument. "Hn, regardless... why they voted for you won't matter now." Tsuna raised his eyebrow as a silent question at Hibari. "Herbivore change their mind easily Omnivore, they flock and seek protection from stronger animal they acknowledge."

Tsuna would have asked him to elaborate that explanation, since hyper intuition or not he couldn't always understood Hibari's way to liken them to animal kingdom hierarchy. But Hibari had walked away, followed by his committee members. The said committee also stopped and gave him a bow before they proceed to follow their leader, leaving Tsuna and the rest of school population speechless.

Once Hibari was out of their sight, and hopefully they were out of his earshot too, the students broke to cheer and wild applause. Tsuna and his friends were startled by their attitude, before they were whispering, then they were as silent as corpse and then they cheered as if Christmas had come early. Tsuna wondered why the crowd looked so happy, some even crying tears of happiness. His thought was interrupted by Umino-senpai who was crying his gratitude and bowing to him.

"Umino-senpai!" Tsuna half-yelped when the older boy was about to prostrate himself on the floor to express his gratitude. "You don't have to go that far! I didn't do anything!"

Umino shook his head, "You saved us from Hibari-san!"

"What? You're in danger of him?" Tsuna asked in confusion, as long as they abide by school law Hibari was no danger to anyone as far as he was concerned.

If anything his predecessor looked even more impressed by Tsuna, "You stand up against him! Of course you're not in danger! At last!" He cried dramatically, rubbing his wet eyes with his sleeve. "We have a Kaichou who is not afraid of Hibari-san!"

Actually he was still scared of being bitten by Hibari, but if he did nothing wrong that could make Hibari bite him why would he? "Uhm... but Umino-senpai, I think..."

**"Sawada-Kaichou banzai!"** Tsuna was interrupted by louder cheer from students.

**"He is so brave!"** They gushed.

**"Our new Kaichou is a bad-ass! He even could go toe to toe with Hibari-san."**

Tsuna sweat-dropped at that, '_I did not! I was talking civilly to him, not opposing him. _The again general population of Namimori Elementary was too happy that Tsuna could stand up against Hibari, suddenly the prospect of _surviving_ their school days had increased under their newly elected student council president.

"But I am..." Tsuna began to protest.

Unfortunately his friends agreed with them, "Kaichou is the best!" Hayato nodded happily, it seemed of all people he was the happiest that he had a legitimate excuse to call Tsuna with a title in public now.

"Ha ha ha, awesome!" Takeshi was happy, if not happier than usual with the development. "Hail Tsuna-kaichou!" He said jokingly.

"EXTREME Sawada!" Ryohei coughed out, his throat was still recovering.

"Do your best, Tsuna-kun!" As usual Kyouko gave him her full support, never mind he wanted the said support or not.

Hana gave him a thumbs up, "Good job Tsuna!"

Tsuna didn't know what to say anymore as he stood frozen on the podium while the whole school paid him a homage as if he was the second coming of the messiah. He wondered why Sawada Tsunayoshi had to be shoved to position of authority without even trying and freedom to say otherwise. He took a small comfort that _at least_ it was not a crime organization he was going to lead, it was just a student council, and he was still a _normal_ civilian.

He _hoped_ that fact remained in spite of his new status. On second though, it _had_ to stay that way or he would die trying!

* * *

><p><strong>Future: Discordant Orchestra part 2<strong>

**"Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned."  
><strong>Harold S. Geneen

* * *

><p>Tsuna honestly thought the idea of sneaking out from the room through the ceiling was not the most splendid idea, he, Nokoru and Yagami ever came up with. It was dusty up there and to climb up was not an easy task because the ceiling was five meters high. It was only possible because Takeshi and Suoh brought a rope, very thin but strong enough to be used for mountain climbing. Tsuna and Nokoru knew their unofficial bodyguard brought enough supply for an army. Though it never failed to baffle them how the cousins kept so many on their body.<p>

Takeshi was the first to take his rope out, which sewn neatly on the inside of his jacket. Suoh took the foldable hook for climbing out from the sole of his shoes. Takeshi in the other hand had a small flashlight inside the sole of his shoes, grinning as he checked the battery. While the rest of student council watched the display as if it was the most normal thing in the world, Natsu couldn't help but wonder if the two was descendant of ninja. His suspicion was confirmed when Suoh jumped, and he _bounced _to the wall to reach higher and planted his nimble body on the corner of the ceiling.

Natsu's left eye twitched when he saw Suoh stabbed the ceiling with a weapon he only saw in ninja cartoon before, "A kunai... you must be kidding me." And then the dark haired boy sliced a perfect square shaped hole on the ceiling with the said kunai. Climbing up to the said hole and dropped the rope for them to climb.

After five minutes crawling through the dusty ceiling they reached their destination. This time it was Takeshi who sliced their way through, Natsu made sure there was plenty of space between him and Takeshi who was using a katana to cut the ceiling open. Natsu had to wonder if it was legal for Takeshi and his cousin to bring those weapons around. On second thought, who was he to talk about illegality?

"There's a building beside this restaurant." Yagami pointed at a closed window. "We can jump to reach it, according to the map the small alley that separate the building is less than two meters." He sighed as he eyed some people warily, "I am confident I can reach it, the ninja cousins also no prob." He listed on while Suoh and Takeshi looked at each other and mouthed ninja with mirth on their face. "Katou is a magician, and since I have seen her escape trick I am sure she will have no problem." Yagami looked at Natsu who glared at him. "I guess Sawada-kun's brother will be okay, the problem is..."

Nokoru sighed, "Don't bother to ask." Nokoru was almost legendary for being an abysmal sportsman, though only his fellow councilmen knew that.

"Two meters is not a big gap but since we're in the third floor..." Yagami trailed off, growing worried as Nokoru paled at the prospect.

"I will do my best!" Nokoru promised.

Suoh tapped his shoulder, "No, I will carry you on my back." Nokoru pouted but he couldn't reject the favorable idea.

Natsuhiko looked at the two, he gulped then turned to Tsuna but before he could speak his brother dragged a wooden board that leaned against the wall of the storage room. "Why don't we use this? If I estimate correctly, this plank is around 2M in length and 0,6M in width. It's good enough for us to use."

"Is it sturdy enough to support our weight?" Yagami asked.

Tsuna nodded as Takeshi hoisted the plank to his shoulder, "As long as only one person crossing at a time, it would be fine I think."

Takeshi opened the window, it took him quite some time since the window had not opened for a long time so the hinge was a bit rusty. Just like Yagami said, there was a lower building across. The height of the rooftop was the same as the window. "Lucky!" Takeshi cheered as he carefully slid the plank out to the next building.

Yagami nodded in approval, "Takamura will go ahead first, after him would be Imonoyama-kun and then me." In case Nokoru needed his help to cross the plank later. "Katou-san, the brat..."

"I have a name you know!" Natsu growled.

Yagami ignored the younger twin again, "Sawada-kun and the last one is Yamamoto-kun." He glanced at them, "Everyone agree with this arrangement?"

"Yes, it's good." Tsuna answered, followed by others with similar answer.

Suoh who was first in line walked on the plank casually, a considerable feat considering he was walking backward as assisting a very wobbly Nokoru to cross. Yagami who was right behind Nokoru waited the younger president anxiously, but the anxiety evaporated the moment Nokoru managed to cross the plank safely. Yagami was not as athletic as Suoh but he managed to cross the plank with little difficulty. Chrome also crossed the plank with equal ease as Suoh, some of her magic trick required balance and working in high place after all.

It was Natsuhiko's turn now but he waited for Chrome to hop off to the next building, he was about to push himself up to the plank when the door of the storage room swung open violently. Natsuhiko whirled around and gasped when he saw a man in Hawaiian shirt holding an AKS-47 assault rifle. "Tsuna!"

Tsuna frowned at the assault rifle that pointed at them. They just had to come at the worse time possible, Orchestra. Running from this kind of assassin was the same as open invitation for them to gun you down, this man was the type to talk together with his gun.

The man grinned, "Okay don't move boy... while I would love nothing more than just kill you all for the heck of it I can't." Because that would make his employer's men running to this room to finish him off after he killed the Vongola heir. The safest course is kill one brat which was his target and get the hell out of here. At least he could still get the credit of killing Vongola heir, that would do wonder to their reputation. "Now... which one of you is my target?"

Natsuhiko opened his mouth, ready to call the man out to chase him. If he was lucky, he could jump from this third floor and take a different route to isolate himself and his assassin. "Oi..."

Carlos grinned as he looked at the sophisticated looking brat with glasses, "Oh, hello prey~" He sang as he pointed his assault riffle at Tsuna.

"Huh?" Natsuhiko blinked at the assassin who looked 100% sure that Tsuna was his target.

The older twin didn't even blink at the rifle that pointed at him, Tsuna felt stupid to ask this but he had to confirm it. "How could you be so sure I am the one your employer wanted?" Tsuna asked, flashing a benign smile in hope he could fish out information from the seemingly chatty assassin and stalling more time for his friends to escape.

Knowing Yagami and Nokoru, they would have known he was halted. Thankfully they knew Takeshi's capability so they wouldn't waste their time worrying. And if possible he wanted to distract the assassin, not because he was suicidal but with Reborn watching from somewhere and Takeshi near, he was relatively safe. Not to mention he had been taught how to dodge a bullet, a feat that was even easier with his hyper intuition. He simply wanted to confirm one thing.

Carlos cocked his head to the side, staring at Tsuna as if the president had grown another head that speak Swahili. "If you want to hide your identity brat, go get a new face." The self-proclaimed musical assassin informed Tsuna with a tone that suggested he thought Tsuna was an idiot.

So it was the same thing _again. _"... I see." Tsuna muttered as mentally crying waterfall tears, he knew letting his bangs grew longer and wearing glasses were futile! Then again plastic surgery was out, cutting his hair short would looks like imitating his father, and a too drastic image change would make his mother freak.

"New face?" Natsuhiko echoed, what was that supposed to mean?

Reborn who once again watching the whole ordeal from the ceiling wiped nonexistent tear from his beady eyes. Poor Tsuna, he had no idea the assassin was targeting his brother but turned on him because of his face. While Natsuhiko inherited most of his looks from Iemitsu save eye and hair color, no one could tell the similarity right away, simply because Iemitsu was already in his late thirties with a small goatee and ruggedly handsome features. Natsuhiko was still very young so he had softer features. Iemitsu also didn't have a distinct feature that made him stand out in a crowd (In Italy), which was why he could waltz around in jumpsuit and nobody could recognize the man unless they got a close look.

Vongola Primo, the one Tsuna was the carbon copy of however... It was legendarily known that Giotto looked much younger than his age. History even mentioned that when Giotto retired at his late thirties the boss looked almost the same as when he founded Vongola. In short, Tsuna was beyond salvation to be easily recognizable as descendant of Vongola Primo. Natsuhiko's photo never leaked to underground society so it was understandable the assassin looked up about Vongola Primo in hope the descendant he targeted bore some similarity with the first boss. Natsu, who was the heir, fortunately looked nothing like Primo, in the other hand Tsuna who was not chosen unfortunately looked almost exactly like Primo, minus the hair color, slight difference in bangs that framed his face and the glasses. Which meant absolutely nothing when someone was staring long enough at him to see the similarity.

It was a very cruel fate of genetic, Reborn thought mirthfully.

Tsuna and Takeshi looked impassive at the threat, but inside Tsuna was very frustrated that he was targeted because of his face _again_. Takeshi patted his shoulder comfortingly, and Tsuna could tell the comforting hand was trembling. Takeshi still found this funny, it seemed. Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, the first criminal attempt towards him that caused by his face that looks like Primo was pretty funny even for him. But now? He found it extremely annoying. Go get a new face? Right~ As if he could do that.

Carlos grinned as he aimed the riffle at Tsuna, "I am just paid for this, go blame your ancestor brat!"

_I have to agree with you about that, _Tsuna thought cynically. "Takeshi."

The swordsman grinned, "Hai!"

Carlos didn't even has a chance to pull the trigger when a kunai lodged to his riffle, "What the?" And the next thing he knew he was pinned to the wall of corridor with no less than a dozen of kunai on his clothes. "You!"

Takeshi grinned, "Just be quiet until the police arrive ojii-san!"

"BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Carlos roared angrily.

"Natsu move!" Tsuna ordered Natsu.

Natsu blinked at the order, still dumbfounded that the assassin thought Tsuna was part of mafia. "Oh? Right!" Natsu pushed himself up quickly and crossed the plank in record time.

Tsuna followed and crossed the plank with little difficulties. Takeshi simply jumped over to the rooftop with ease. Tsuna turned around sharply to Takeshi, "Throw that plank away!" He ordered, it would be a trouble if the assassin followed them.

Takeshi who had his sword out simply slashed the plank in two. "Yosh!"

"Let's go!" Tsuna shouted as they ran through the rooftop as their life depended on it and it did.

* * *

><p>Cosimo laid in the wait beside the telephone box around 30 meters from the restaurant their target occupied. He was an Italian, in his late twenties. Dark brown hair framed his square face, and a thin scar running from his temple down to his chin. He was wearing a black shirt and dark blue jeans, disguising himself as a civilian. So far no one in front line informed them about any conflict, he had to wonder what took those Orchestra bastards so long to lodge bullet to Vongola's heir's cranium. It shouldn't be so difficult to deal with one brat, even a mafia boss in training. He sighed as he chewed on his unlit cigarette, his hand rummaging through his pocket to look for his lighter. How unlucky that he got the job to act like a civilian and had to walk around alone. He at least still had a weapon on him, he thought as he patted his right pocket where he kept his gun.<p>

He paused when he heard a soft sob coming from a dark alley nearby. He sighed, it seemed the team who disguised as traffic construction staff didn't do their job right and a civilian got lost here. The area was usually crowded on a weekend like tonight for the night view and good restaurant but they managed to secure the area with a lot of money involved. And now after all that effort...

Cosimo raised an eyebrow when the mafioso saw a kid, dressed in elementary school uniform bawling his eyes out as crouching down in the dark alley. "Oi kid! What are you doing here?" Out of curiosity than pity, after the brat answered he would just reply, _'Sorry brat, look for your mama in heaven, okay?'_ It was a good thing he put a silencer on his gun.

Teary green eyes looked up, "Hic, I am just..." The boy trailed off then suddenly that pouting mouth turned to a toothy grin, "Gotcha."

The next thing Cosimo knew was his whole body electrocuted, he was about to scream but the brat tackled him and covered his mouth, and then he realized his whole body was paralyzed, not even a muscle moved as his brain commanded.

The boy stood up with a grin as he surveyed his handy work, "It's a shocking art right? Old man?" Lambo asked gleefully. "Now, be nice with us okay?"

Cosimo cursed, "Damn you..." He could speak but his voice was hoarse, it as if something lodged his throat.

A pompadour haired man emerged from the dark alley, grinning at the charred mafioso. "Hello, how do you like Lambo-kun's shocking art?" He asked gleefully, "Now that Lambo-kun has taken care of your voice cord, you can speak but not screaming..." He grinned wider, "So don't even think to scream for your buddy, pal..."

"What..." The man croaked painfully, "Do you... want? Who... are you?"

Kusakabe Tetsuya grinned, "For the first question, you will know the answer soon enough."

"As for the second one..." Lambo trailed off, "We're your worst nightmare." The curly haired child sighed. "Kidding, I am just an artist. While you're a crappy canvas, an artist like me could produce a splendid art out of you... hm, are you part Greek? Your face is kind of Greek looking..." He sighed, "Hm... from your neck down you looks crappy so we can just use the head." Lambo hummed thoughtfully, "Afro will looks splendid on you, he he he..." He cackled gleefully.

The dark haired mafioso was not one to be intimidated, but the way the brat named Lambo spoke it sounded like he was in for something along the line inhuman art. Just from his grin, Cosimo could already imagine himself, left with only head, singed with afro hair and replacing the head of Venus de Milo. "I..."

Kusakabe smiled sadistically at him, "Yes... we want you to spill about your boss, who is your target, how many friends you have and so on but... well... we would like you to cooperate willingly and if not? Too bad..." He muttered sardonically.

"What... are you going to do to me?" _Please tell me the brat was joking, please!_ He begged on his mind desperately, he would take the beating and torture any day over disfigured by a psychopathic ten years old artist.

Lambo answered him gleefully, his green eyes sparkling in delight as he was holding a carving knife in one hand and a mallet in another. "We will sacrifice you in the name of art and Namimori Gakuen!" He cackled maniacally.

"..." Cosimo only need one look at the gleeful green eyes and he made his decision. "I will tell you everything, sir." He squeaked.

Kusakabe grinned, "Thank you very much."

"Che." Lambo looked very disappointed.

* * *

><p>Yagami titled his head to the side, catching a glimpse of Sawada group running to their direction as if their life depended on it. His group who had gone ahead kept their pace until Tsuna, Yamamoto and Natsu reached them. The oldest student looked at Tsuna, "So, did you see the rats?"<p>

Tsuna sighed at that, "Only one, and he threatened to shoot me on the spot."

He raised an eyebrow, "Ha? Not kidnapping you? Why would anyone want to kill you?" They had kidnapping attempts because of various reasons, but most wanted them alive and not dead.

_'Because I look like my great, great, great, great grandfather.' _Tsuna retorted mentally. "Who knows? So far I can't think of any reason for anyone wanting me dead." Tsuna muttered with a sigh. "But then again they probably careless about the rest of you, for all we know they prefer to get all of us."

"Classic, no surviving witness." Yagami said cynically.

Nokoru sighed at that, "Which mean it matters little who their main target is..."

"But they..." Natsuhiko began, trying to think of a reason to separate himself from them but he didn't want to leave his brother either. Not to mention if what Tsuna said was right, all of them were targeted with no exception. Natsu jumped when he felt an extra weight on his head, "Reborn! You scare the hell out of me!"

Yagami, Nokoru and Suoh turned to Natsuhiko's direction briefly, where it was that the baby came from? Tsuna shot them a look then mouthed _'Don't ask.'_ They tensed for a moment, and quickly averted their eyes away from Natsuhiko and Reborn.

Reborn noticed their eyes but since Tsuna was running ahead of Natsu he didn't see the silent message. The sun arcobaleno frowned; there were more urgent things to tell his student, he could worry about them later. "Oi, Baka-Natsu... you guys should run faster now... or you're dead."

"What did you say?!" Natsu growled.

The hitman noted Tsuna was also looking at the building across, so he noticed? Good instinct? What was the odd that he had awakened his hyper intuition? "Someone is holding a FN P90, not a bad choice... " Reborn said nonchalantly as he spied on the assassin across the building with his binoculars.

"Don't give them compliments!" Natsu shouted before he was pulled down by Tsuna to duck when a barrage of bullets flying towards them.

Nokoru whimpered as holding his bruised nose, courtesy of Suoh who did the same as Tsuna without warning. "Thanks goodness the balcony of this rooftop is pretty high and thick, by the way Suoh..."

"Yeah?"

"Next time, please be gentler and a warning would be nice." Nokoru muttered.

Suoh rolled his eyes, "There's no time..." He turned to his cousin, "Takeshi-nii... when do you think the assassin will run out of bullets?"

"Not anytime soon for sure." Takeshi said with a sigh.

"This is from one person!" Yagami hissed, "There would be more of them later!"

Tsuna agreed wholeheartedly with Yagami, whoever was shooting at them had to be stopped now or they won't be able to move from here. He blinked when he noticed the deafening sound of wheezing bullet had stopped, "It stop."

His hyper intuition however was flaring another alarm. It was getting worse. He carefully lifted his head up, enough to get a good look of the building across. Someone was rummaging inside a bag, looking for something. Tsuna used his phone camera and zoomed in, it was a good thing the camera was much better than cellphone camera in the market. He could see a brown haired girl, she was wearing a slouch hat, white shirt and beige skirt. She opened the metal case she pulled from her bag. She took out something that looked like a pistol but it was too big to be one and definitely NOT a pistol.

"Is she crazy?!" That was Yagami, it seemed the older president had copied his idea to use their cellphone camera as a replacement for binoculars. "That's..."

"A grenade launcher." Reborn supplied generously, his tone was grim. He knew Orchestra was crazy, but he didn't expect them to be this mad to use a grenade launcher against a bunch of students. Talking about overkill…

All of them paled at that, including the easygoing Takeshi. "This is bad."

"That's going to demolish this rooftop!" Natsuhiko hissed in alarm, he had seen Ganauche demonstrating many kinds of firearms as part of his lessons. He was very well aware of what kind of damage it would unleash upon them.

"She is loading that thing!" Yagami informed them, "We have to get out of here!"

Tsuna growled under his breath, they wouldn't have enough time to get out of the firing range. "Nagi! Smoke screen! Takeshi! Distract her, don't let her to fire!"

* * *

><p>Chinatsu scowled when she saw the only girl of the group suddenly unleashed a thick smoke screen from her magician hat, She snorted, with her weapon destructive power it won't matter if she couldn't see them. "Like that matters much to Chinatsu Cannon Special! Eat this!" Chinatsu was halfway pulling her trigger when something hard grazed the side of her grenade launcher, she yelped in surprise and fired. She watched the grenade didn't hit the right side of the rooftop she aimed but another end. "Son of a bitch!" She cursed then glared down to see a shuriken on the floor, glimmered metallically under the moonlight.<p>

She was ticked, how dare they used such a cheap trick against her! Chinatsu blinked, if they wanted her to miss why should they use that smoke screen? She turned to her left where she could see the smoke screen thinned out and revealed an empty rooftop. "Those brats!"

"Chinatsu!"

The long haired girl beamed at the sight of her teacher running towards her, she frowned at the state her teacher was in. "Shishou, where's your Hawaiian shirt?"

Carlos lifted the tattered remains of his beloved shirt, "Some ninja brat pinned me to the wall with kunai."

"Kunai, as in... _That_ kunai?" It was not every day you would hear someone used kunai as real weapon rather than collection for ninja otaku.

"Yeah." Carlos grumbled, "Damn client! They want to cross us, fine! But did they have to give wrong info too?! No one said a freaking ninja is guarding that mafia prince!"

Chinatsu frowned, "Shishou..." Her voice was close to a whimper, "Maybe we should call it a day? Let's just drop this mission, we won't get any payment for this anyway!"

For a moment Carlos considered the option, but quickly steeled his resolve. "No, this is not about payment but this." Carlos patted his hairy chest.

Chinatsu blinked, "Your wounded pride because that ninja made you strip?" She asked innocently.

"NOT that pride!" Carlos yelled, flushed a beet red. "Pride as a musician! Assassin! Now go! We're going to kill that brat and take the credit ourselves! We won't get the money but the reputation would be worth it!"

The Japanese girl frowned at that, she had a bad feeling about this. "If that's what Shishou wanted..." She relented reluctantly.

Carlos grinned; he raised a good female assassin! He was so proud! "Good girl! Now, let's split! That boy won't be able to go too far." Then his eyes narrowed, "If you see another assassin, as much as I want you to take them out it would be hell if they hunted us when we're hunting the brat so if possible don't get in contact with them."

"Hai! Shishou!" Chinatsu saluted with a bright toothy grin.

* * *

><p>Their eyes were wide in shock, it was a close call that they were almost blasted to smithereens by a psycho. That was one experience they won't repeat ever again. If not for Sawada Tsunayoshi who ordered them to jump over the building, how Sawada knew there was a metal stairs for fire exit on that side of building was the least of Yagami's worries. The landing would have been a pain if not for Takeshi helping him. Nokoru of course got help from Suoh to land safely on the metal stairs. How Sawada and his brother managed to land on their feet by themselves was a mystery he won't worry about. The assassins lingered for a while after a comrade of hers talked to her before they went off. While they knew their target didn't run far they had no idea it was so close.<p>

Yagami had to admit Sawada was very good when it comes to dealing with danger, insanely good that he had to lament the younger president preference of peaceful life as a civilian rather than an investigator. "Thanks a bunch Sawada-kun." His lament could wait later, now he should thank his kouhai at least.

"You're welcome." Tsuna breathed out, "By the way... it seems the signal is back." Tsuna ran his fingers through sweaty brown locks, while the other was examining his phone.

Nokoru beamed at that, "Oh! About time!"

Tsuna's phone vibrated and he quickly picked up the call, "Hello, Hayato? Yes... I am fine, you guys managed to fix the signal?" Tsuna smiled at that, "We're alright... just a bit shaken just now ha ha ha..."

"Don't laugh Sawada." Yagami growled out.

Tsuna just shot him an apologetic look, then turned around to face the rest of his group. "So Kyouya is here? That's a relieve... Thanks... okay we will meet you in that designated place." Tsuna ended the call, his eyes widened when he recount the members of their group. "Natsu?" Tsuna spun and looked down when he heard clanking sound of shoes against metal surface, Natsu was running down the stairs in a speed above normal teenager his age, which was thanks to his fitness as a mafia heir.

**"NATSU! GET BACK HERE!"** Tsuna roared with commanding voice.

Natsu stopped in instance; his heart was almost burst when he heard Tsuna using that tone of voice to call him. He made a mistake of looking up, and his dark brown eyes locked to Tsuna's. His brother's amber eyes shimmered like flame, and Natsu felt those eyes pinned him to the ground. For a moment he almost did an autopilot to obey his brother but Reborn's voice snapped him back to his senses.

"Natsu, are you going to back out now because your brother said so?" The hitman asked cynically.

He shook his head, "No, I have to go... staying with them will put my brother and his friends in danger." And with that he flashed Tsuna a grin and continued his escape.

"Nat..." Tsuna was about to call his brother again, but the younger twin was faster as he jumped off of the stairs, landed on the ground with cat like swiftness and then sped off to random direction. Tsuna groaned in frustration as he ran his fingers through his hair, gritting his teeth at the direction his brother disappeared to.

No one dared to utter a word, recalling how Tsuna reacted when Yagami insulted Natsu. They were chased by a group of assassins; they didn't need Tsuna to snap and lost control. "Sawada-senpai... Tsuna-nii?" Nokoru tried to call Tsuna with their private way to address each other, "I am sure Natsuhiko-san needed his toilet break, that's why he run off for sure!" He knew he sounded stupid, but he didn't know how to pacify Tsuna in this kind of situation.

Tsuna pulled his hand away from his eyes, his expression was that you would call resigned. "I know he is going to pull this kind of stun sooner or later." Tsuna blurted out with a sigh, rubbing his throbbing cranium.

"Ha?" Nokoru blinked owlishly.

"Sa... Sawada?" Yagami was thoroughly confused, "What do you mean you _know_ he was going to do this?"

Tsuna sighed again, then he made a call which only a moment later answered. "Ah Kyouya? Are you tracking my brother who ran off just now?" He asked in resigned tone. "Yes, he should be marked as a brown dot in your tracking device. I am sorry for this but get your squad to keep an eye on him. And yes." Tsuna's voice turned borderline murderous. "I give you permission to take desperate measure." And with that he ended the line.

"..."

"... Aren't you… one crazily overprotective brother, Sawada-kun?" Yagami asked in disbelief as he followed Tsuna running down the stairs with the rest of their group in tow. "You sent your attack dogs on them!" He had seen what Hibari was capable of and he had to wonder how the hell Sawada could keep the guy in line and not arrested yet.

Tsuna frowned at him, "Kyouya is _not_ my attack dog." He hissed angrily at Yagami, and didn't bother to elaborate since they had this argument too many times to count. "I think I took a _reasonable_ measure to protect my brother, you're not the one who has a trouble magnet for a brother, Yagami-san."

Yagami snorted, "Looks who's talking." Like Sawada had the right to call someone else a trouble magnet, "It's genetic, isn't it."

He couldn't refute that for the life of him, judging from Sawada family's track record since Ieyasu/Giotto. "... So it seems." He admitted grudgingly. "Actually we're not that far from our destination, a five minute walk and there's a bulletproof car ready to take us out of here."

Yagami nodded at that, "It's about time, by the way... why did your brother run off?"

Tsuna face-palmed at that, "Don't ask, come with me Takeshi... Nagi stay here with them." He said as he spun to opposite direction of the one their group was about to take.

"Sawada-kun! Don't be foolish!" Yagami hissed. "If you have your DC squad to keep an eye on your brother, you don't have to go after him yourself!"

The older Sawada twin smiled bitterly, "Because I am a big brother..." He answered and with that he sprinted to where his younger twin ran off to with Takeshi followed him closely.

Nokoru and the rest watched their retreating back, not even once Tsuna and Takeshi looked back and they disappeared to the dark alley. "Well, let's get going then." Nokoru said as he mentally rechecked the shortest route to the rendezvous point, he had seen the map once but that's more than enough for his photographic memory.

"Imonoyama-kun!" Yagami scowled, "There's a bunch of assassins around here with only Yamamoto-kun to protect him! I doubt even Yamamoto-kun could take on so many experienced assassins at once!" The oldest president reasoned.

Nokoru narrowed his eyes. "Would you leave your younger sister if she did the same as Natsu-san?" The blond asked, "Even if your father had dispatched his best men to keep an eye on her in this situation?"

"... Don't bring Sayo in this!" Yagami Raito gritted his teeth.

Nagi frowned at him, "Don't underestimate our Kaichou, and Takeshi will never fail to protect him." She wanted to go with him too but it was too dangerous to leave the group unprotected. Suoh was strong but she won't let him to be the only capable fighter in the group.

He sighed, "Fine! But he'd better survive this mess!"

* * *

><p>Reborn told him to go after Orchestra, the psycho assassin duo that was targeting his life. As if it was not bad enough they thought Tsuna was the heir, when he asked why Reborn whacked him on the head and told him to find out himself. Reborn said one of his bugs was following the duo, they had split up so they were going after one of them. Natsu was a little excited about the fight, hopefully he'd get the old man who threatened his brother. He didn't want to fight with a girl anyway.<p>

"Do you fear your brother?" Reborn's question almost made Natsu tripped.

The heir however regained his balance quickly and glared at Reborn who was riding a go-kart shaped Leon, wearing a complete set of racing suit and helm to compliment it. "What make you think so?"

"You have unconsciously obeyed him." Reborn pointed out and Natsu tensed.

Natsu shook his head, "What are you talking about Reborn, I am the future boss... " He laughed awkwardly, "I won't..."

**"Natsu, sit down."** Reborn imitated Tsuna's tone when he said the same order, cutting his student off. "**It ****_can_**** wait. **Twice, and would have for the third time if I didn't snap you back to your sense." Reborn pointed out.

The brunette gritted his teeth, "I am just..."

"That's what different between you and Tsuna in term of leadership skills..." Reborn cut his student off again, and scowl on Natsu's lips deepened. "I am not rubbing your inferiority on your face. I am your teacher, it's my duty to teach you and guide you to the correct path as a boss." Natsu grumbled a hesitant agreement at that, and urged his teacher to continue. "As the heir of Vongola, from what I have heard from Nonno's guardians, you're taught how to command and lead people by your father and Nonno..."

Natsu nodded at that, "Yeah."

Reborn waved his forefinger, "However... back in Italy they obeyed you because it's already granted by your status as the heir." Reborn explained and Natsu winced at that, "It's nothing to do with your leadership, it's just that... they already 'conditioned' to obey you." Reborn sped his Leon go kart up a bit, "Your brother on the other hand didn't have such luxury, you could tell from the way he carried himself and conversation skill."

Natsu stared at Reborn quizzically, "Conversation skill?"

"More like diplomatic skill really..." The chibi hitman drawled, "Each of president council of school under Imonoyama have their own talent, Imonoyama Nokoru is the youngest son of the family but he is also the CEO of Imonoyama electronic company, a talented physics scientist and inventor." Natsu whistled at that, "That arrogant Yagami Raito is the son of Japanese Police Chief... and a talented investigator himself, he solved a lot of criminal case just from reading newspaper."

Natsu rolled his eyes when Reborn mentioned Yagami, "No wonder he instinctively hostile to me, he is a future cop."

"I think he just couldn't stand an idiot." Reborn corrected much to Natsu's ire, "Moving on... your brother in the other hand has no family background to speak of in comparison. Well... no one know about our famiglia... " Natsu winced at that, "While your brother's track record as literature researcher is impressive, his forte lies in his diplomatic skill... a brilliant negotiator."

"Meaning?"

"I won't go to details, the dumbed version would be your brother is good at making people side with him." Reborn began with a sigh, at questioning look Natsu shot at him he added. "If you think 2+2=4 but your brother say it's six. He could make you agree with him regardless…"

"That's exaggerating!"

Reborn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it is. But that's the gross summary of what Sawada Tsunayoshi's talent is… "

"So Tsuna is a smooth talker?"

"Yes."

"You make it sounds like a big deal!" Natsu huffed, "We're being targeted here, so just kick some ass!"

Reborn just sighed but didn't say anything in return; Natsu was never good in listening without pain involved. If only Natsu realized, what the smooth talker had done to him and his confidence. On second thought, Natsu did acknowledge that quality in his brother, but he was too trusting and naïve to think of Tsuna as a threat. In Reborn's opinion, Tsuna could be the greatest ally to Natsu or his downfall. Tsuna was a kind and gentle person, but tonight Reborn had seen Tsuna wouldn't bat an eye when resorting to a drastic measure such as blackmailing a CIA agent to protect his friends and brother. Tsuna also showed he could make Natsu obeyed him without question to protect his brother.

Reborn contemplated how he should act accordingly to his new founding. Tsuna was fiercely protective of his family, and was not above blackmailing and manipulating to do so. Tonight Tsuna had cemented his status as a dangeroud figure in Reborn's book.

* * *

><p>"Gah!" The mafioso's eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground on top of the dog pile of his comrades who had met the same fate.<p>

Tsuna sighed as another Mafioso cursed and charged at him with a switchblade. The Mafioso gasped when Tsuna dodged the blade and grabbed his wrist, and received a painful elbow to his nose, which knocked him out cold. "Takeshi, you're done?"

There was painful and manly shriek, then a cracking noise. "Yep!" Takeshi let his victim to fall and join the dog pile.

Tsuna rubbed his throbbing cranium, eyeing the trail of body they left irately. "We're not even in mafia and yet…" They left body trail in their path like some sort of bloodthirsty mafia, though the bodies were breathing still.

"Maa maa…" Takeshi raised his hands in placating gesture; "It's not our fault they're attacking us, but none of them intending to kill you from what I see…" Most of them was using non-lethal weapon, and even those with lethal one didn't try to do anything that life threatening on them.

Tsuna nodded in agreement at that. "They probably still think I am the heir of Vongola, but they suddenly change their mind to capture me instead…" Tsuna gritted his teeth, "No, they're trying to delay us so we won't get to Natsu in time…"

"Eh?" Takeshi blinked owlishly at that. "Why would they…"

The baseball star didn't get to finish his question as his eyes narrowed and thrusted his shinai at a Mafioso who tried to grab Tsuna from behind. The man hunched over and couldn't react when Tsuna grabbed him by his collar. The man gagged as a boy whose height barely reached his chest manhandled him, "Now would you like to tell us what's your superior is up to?" Tsuna smiled genially, his words betrayed his action which, slowly cutting the mafioso's air supply but gave him enough to speak. "What's your order?" Tsuna hissed.

"I won't talk… omerta…" He coughed out with a grin, "As if civilian brat… could…"

Tsuna rolled his eyes inwardly, what's with the prejudice against teenager in mafia? As if they were blind that he and Takeshi were the one who beat them up and not the other way. "Omertà, Huh? Oh my… low level mook mafia like you certainly know how to throw that glorified code of silence around." Tsuna commented sardonically.

"To be honest I am not sure that you guys are from mafia." The mafioso's eyes widened at that, "Thank you for confirming that, it seems you're not as silenced as you thought..." The man clamped his mouth shut, determined to not utter a word and violate his omertà.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the gesture, "I see… now you understand what silence is suppose to mean."

"Not for long though!" Takeshi laughed cheerfully, "Tsuna, let me have a chat with him!"

Three kunai and ten shuriken later that were too close to his neither region for comfort; the mafioso opened his mouth and started singing like a canary, albeit a tone deaf one. The goon didn't know much as expected, like any other low level mook, he received an order without knowing what's behind the said order. He was ordered to stop Tsuna and Takeshi from catching up with Natsu, and not allowed to inflict permanent harm on them. The man begged Takeshi to leave him alone and peed on his pants much to their chagrin.

The president shook his head as the man was generously knocked out by Takeshi to be spared from further humiliation, he eyed the fallen mafioso with ire. "What omertà, that's just a glorified code of cowardice you mafia created to hide your dark world." He muttered solemnly. Reborn of all people, who was one of the strongest mafia in the world definitely didn't honor the said code, he could keep his silence better than anyone but would never flaunt the code of silence. Reborn acted like elitist snob most of the time, but he had it in his to back up that attitude, low level goon like these men in the other hand...

Tsuna rubbed his temple, wondering how many people _that person_ dispatched to stop him alone, not to mention for Hibari and his squad. It would be a headache to cover this up later. "Let's go Takeshi, we don't have much time…"

* * *

><p><strong>Hopefully I will finish orchestra arc in next chap… I am bored already for this arc and want it to end soon. Past will finish in two or three chapters… so rejoice! <strong>

**Hope you love this chap and review! **

****λ...λ  
>(ºvº)<br>( iREVIEWi )  
>\i<strong><strong>REVIEW<strong>**i/  
>\mm  
>l : : l<br>\::/****


	9. 8th Axis

**Parallel Axis of Sawada Tsunayoshi  
><strong>A certain daily life that  
>become thousands of parallel world,<br>of different times.

**Past: Murphy's law**

**If something can go wrong, it will.  
><strong>_Murphy's Law  
><span>_

Sawada Tsunayoshi sincerely prayed that getting the Student Council President position was a bad nightmare he would soon wake up from. Of course that hope was dashed, first thing in the morning a tearful group of students already begged him to pacify Kyouya from biting latecomers to death. He convinced Kyouya that a detention was enough, there's no need for bodily harm as they had been properly intimidated by Kyouya that the chance of them coming late until they graduated was nonexistent. He had been put off by previous president, who had left a long list of injustice he wished Tsuna to work on, seventy percent of it involving Hibari's way of disciplining general population.

To be honest Tsuna suspected the reason he was placed in this position was solely to deal with Hibari Kyouya. He had to wonder how a twelve years old like Hibari could strike fear to Headmaster and faculty members, even though he was under-aged Hibari was not immune from law, at least he shouldn't be. Then again there's some things you'd rather keep under the rug, and pretend it never exist so it won't kill you.

Hibari Kyouya consisted of those things.

Still, as Tsuna was the only person who dared to compromise with Kyouya, and survived the ordeal, he automatically became everyone's ray of hope to survive Hibari's tyrannical reign of discipline. Tsuna let Hibari to discipline people, but he made sure Hibari keep the violence at minimum. At least since Tsuna became the student council president, no one had to be hospitalized for coming late to school anymore.

But still there's some things Tsuna had trouble with that not concerning Hibari at all…

"A school trip to Tokyo for three days." Tsuna sighed as he reread the proposal, "When I am hoping to awaken my hyper intuition, I didn't expect headache to come in one package with it."

"Kaichou…" Hayato looked at him worriedly, "Don't worry! I am sure we can face anything your hyper intuition sensed!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped, "I think the first solution is thinking how…" He waved the thin file, "To cancel this school trip, I don't want to tempt fate… and I seriously wonder why my alternate self never think of using hyper intuition to avoid trouble…" Probably because Reborn kicked him right to the middle of it as part of his boss' training.

"Everyone is looking forward for this trip Tsuna…" Takeshi said sadly.

Hayato glared at Takeshi, "The one who was looking forward for this trip the most is you!" He pointed at Takeshi who was piling a stack of autograph paper in case he met famous baseball player in Tokyo.

Tsuna groaned, "I know… but if there's something dangerous ahead and we have over a hundred students around…" He trailed off, "Not to mention Hibari will join us to make sure the students to behave appropriately." Or so he said, although Tsuna was pretty sure he was the only student Kyouya thought needed attention to not attract trouble to Namimori.

"But to be honest he is the one I am worried of the most…" For many reasons, as normal grade student's worse mischief was getting lost, or annoying their teachers, Kyouya was entirely different level of trouble.

"The irony..." Hayato snorted. "Whose genius idea placing Hibari Kyouya as a prefect, the head of disciplinary squad no less?"

_Probably Kyouya's himself, _Tsuna thought. "At any rate…" Tsuna laughed sheepishly. "Let's just hope for the best."

* * *

><p><strong>3 Days Later…<strong>

He was always hopeful, and as fate dictated that hope had to die a painful death. It started with their school's wonderful saving plan, in which they hired a skinny freeter named Seo as the bus driver, let's say while Seo had a driving license, Tsuna seriously doubt the man earned it in legal way. With this kind of driving skill, the man should not be allowed to drive in public road, or at all.

Tsuna swore the speed indicator had spun twice, and the speed must be over 100km/hour at least.

His twin girlfriends who worked as tour guides or sort were not helping, as they tried and miserably failed in calming down the panicked students. Especially when Seo Kaoru, in his infinite wisdom of a 32 years old freeter thought it was a wonderful idea to let one of his hand wander around his girlfriends. Thanks to Hayato, their driver managed to get his attention and hand back to his job, courtesy of a stack of dynamite shoved on his mouth.

Tsuna was forever grateful that at last they touched the ground and arrived in their first destination, the Tokyo tower. It was built on 3rd march Showa 333 and its height was about 333 meters, located on the centre of capital. At first all students were excited of going up the famous tower of capital, looking around with telescope in observation hall and so on, however as that's all they could get in the tower, majority of male students were disappointed.

"Man… I thought we can Bunge jumping here!" One of the sixth years said to his friend.

"Yeah! Like in that game show! It's super cool!" His friend agreed with a nod.

Tsuna who overheard their conversation sweat-dropped, _What makes you think you get to do that in a field trip?_ But still... looking at the list of places they're going to visit next, Tsuna doubted it very much his peers were going to enjoy this field trip at all. What was their principal thinking? No grade school students would enjoy a tour around Tokyo University, or visiting some memorials, not to mention they didn't get free period like middle school or high school kids because they can't be left unsupervised in unfamiliar place like Tokyo.

* * *

><p><strong>4 Hours later… <strong>

They're going to have lunch, but bringing so many students to a restaurant was impossible. The teachers decided to order food and herd their student to have a picnic in a nice quiet park. Tsuna had been having a hard time preventing Kyouya from making incident because some students were getting rowdy because of boredom, and there's some younger ones in fourth grade got lost in biology lab in Tokyo university and traumatized for life after watching a pretty gory experiment on a pig, and other small incidents he had to help the teachers with.

It's only day one and yet he felt so exhausted already, no good, he really had to do something to get his stamina up if he wanted to graduate elementary school with his body intact.

"Otsukare… (good job) Kaichou" Hayato said as he placed a can of oolong tea on Tsuna's waiting hand.

Tsuna opened the can and took a big gulp. "Aah…" He sighed in relieve. "I am so tired…" Takeshi was not with him because the baseball team had gotten lucky to see a famous baseball player on the other side of the park, it seemed the said player likes kid and didn't mind giving them some pointers. At least Takeshi and the baseball team were enjoying themselves, thought Tsuna. More than he'd ever be.

Hayato looked at him worriedly, "Would you like something sweet to recover your energy Kaichou?"

Tsuna looked at his friend and then to simmering heat around them that made the view hazy, summer in Tokyo was at its peak. "Something cold and sweet would be nice." It will spoil his lunch but with this heat he didn't have appetite anyway.

"Of course!" Hayato saluted but before he could dash away a pair of boys was approaching their direction.

The pair looked younger than them judging by the height. Tsuna didn't know what but for some reason his attention was caught by them. Both of them were wearing summer uniform that consist of white shirt with black tie and short pants, pretty standard uniform but it looks formal and elite. The first boy was blond with bright blue eyes, chattering cheerfully about something to his friend. Tsuna noted that while he looked relaxed, there was certain regal air in the way the boy carried himself. The other boy who was listening quietly had dark blue hair with eyes in matching color, and healthy tanned skin like Natsu. Then Tsuna's eyes were instantly drawn to his feet, Tsuna noted how the boy barely made a sound when he walked and his posture indicated he was a martial artist. There's also something about this boy that reminded him… of someone, Takeshi? He wondered why?

"Excuse me." Hayato called them out, "Do you know where to buy ice cream or sort? Something cold and sweet?"

As expected the friendly looking blond was the first to respond to Hayato, "Oh yes." He pointed at direction of their far left. "You see that van? They sell good ice cream, and mochi ones too! I am going to get some for me and my friend here, why don't we go there together?"

Tsuna didn't miss the subtle tenseness the blue haired boy had when he heard the blind called him as friend. _How strange… _

"Is ice cream alright with you kaichou?" Hayato asked eagerly.

Tsuna fought off the blush from creeping to his cheek, to be called that in front of strangers! "It's alright!"

Hayato gave him a thumb up, "Something sour with mint right?"

"Er… right." Tsuna agreed, and faster than he could blink Hayato was already dragging the poor blond along. Hopefully his storm didn't get overboard, because Hayato tended to forget his strength like Takeshi sometimes. Tsuna glanced at his left and realized the younger boy was standing like a statue and looked at a lost. Tsuna couldn't blame him, as it's very awkward when you're alone with a stranger and not knowing what to do.

Tsuna smiled benignly, hoping to lower the tension. "Would you like to have a seat?" He offered, and before the hesitant boy could utter a rejection he added. "There's plenty of space on this bench and it's kind of lonely to sit alone."

Stranger or not Tsuna was an older boy, thus a senpai. A prim and proper boy like him couldn't refuse without being rude. "Thank you…" He said in solemn tone as he sat down.

It was one full minute of quietness until Tsuna decided to start a conversation, "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi, 5th grade Namimori Elementary School, visiting Tokyo for field trip."

The younger boy looked a little stunned that Tsuna suddenly introduced himself, but managed to regain his bearing to return it. "Takamura… Suoh, 2nd grade." He began hesitantly, "Clamp Gakuen…" He finished.

Clamp Gakuen? Wasn't that the school that well known for their talented students and ranked first for its size and prestige? He knew about them because they're often on the front page of newspaper and magazine, no wonder their uniform looks familiar.

"He… Clamp gakuen, you must be a very talented student to get there." Tsuna said in awe. "Takamura-kun."

Suoh shook his head, "No… I am not that good."

A humble one we have here, Tsuna thought in amusement. "So what martial arts you're good at?"

"I am…" Suoh began before he stopped himself from answering. "How do you know I am a martial arts student?" He was not exactly that, but close enough.

Tsuna smiled at that, while inwardly he was noting Suoh was pretty observant that he caught himself before answering. It's not like Tsuna wanted to interrogate him, he just wanted to have a casual chat and he was curious about the younger boy. "You see… the way you walk, you place the heel of your foot first so you barely made a sound, that and added to your posture… it's easy to deduct that you're trained."

Suoh nodded at that, "You're like a detective senpai…"

Tsuna laughed sheepishly at that, "Actually… it's just the way you walk and the body language remind me a lot of my friend, I am not that knowledgeable to be a detective or anything like that."

_That aside, you're observant enough to notice the way a stranger like me walking._ Suoh thought. "I see…"

Well, that's all in it." Tsuna glanced at the solemn boy again, "By the way… not to intrude or anything, but you're a little tense around your friend." He said in thoughtful tone. "You…" Before Tsuna could continue he was stopped when Suoh abruptly stood up in shock. "have a fight?"

If before Suoh was mildly shocked Tsuna could guess he was a martial artist, now he was borderline shocked out of his wits that someone noticed his state of mind, and a stranger no less. "How…"

Tsuna frowned, this boy was not ordinary people. Normal boy his age won't question someone older about how their emotion could be known, after all seven years old rarely could hide their emotion. "It's just… a guess." _It's_ _my hyper intuition actually. _

"Really?" Suoh demanded in skeptical tone. "Never mind… it's nothing." Not even he himself had a clue why he felt unnerved by Imonoyama Nokoru, but his mother had this knowing look when he told her.

_He said that but I can feel he was glaring hole at me from the corner of his eyes. Now I made him paranoid, _Tsuna thought. "Oh." Tsuna was snapped out of his thought when he saw Takeshi running from afar.

"Tsuna!" Takeshi yelled as he came closer, "Listen! Listen! Just now… "

Tsuna wondered why Takeshi looked surprise and found his eyes were on the younger boy beside Tsuna. "Take-nii?" Suoh's expression mirrored Takeshi as he stood up in surprise.

"It's you Suoh!" Takeshi exclaimed cheerfully as he tackled the younger boy gleefully and Suoh yelped in surprise, "I didn't expect to see you here!"

Suoh flushed a little as he pried Takeshi off of him, "This is Tokyo Take-nii, I lives here. Remember?"

"I know, but Tokyo is pretty big and the main house was pretty far from this area…" Takeshi pointed out .

Suoh raised an eyebrow at that, "By car, yes, but Clamp academy is just three stops by train from our main house."

"I see…"

"You know each other?" Tsuna asked curiously, and the two turned to their almost forgotten audience.

Takeshi turned to Tsuna with sheepish smile, "Erm… yeah, Suoh here is my second… or is it third cousin?" He asked to Suoh for confirmation, not that mattered much as Takeshi loved his cousin even if they're fourth or fifth. Family was always a family.

"Second cousin once removed." Suoh informed him in tired tone.

Cousin? Maybe that's the reason he felt some sort of similarity between the two, he felt the same with Kyouko and Ryouhei too. _What a small world… hm? _"Just now…"

The cousins were surprised when Tsuna suddenly stood up then looked around in alarm. "Tsuna? What's wrong."

Tsuna stayed silent before he muttered, "We're being watched…"

Suoh was about to question Tsuna how he could know that, but alarmed expression on Takeshi's face and his guarded pose told him that was not a wild guess in Tsuna's part. But still… _'He didn't say 'maybe' or 'I think' but 'we're'… he is so sure and Takeshi-nii didn't doubt him at all. _"But why we're…"

"Hey!" The blond's cheerful voice called out, "I got our ice cream!" Then he blinked owlishly when he saw them looked so tense and mildly shocked by his call. "What's wrong?" The unknown older boy and Suoh looked like a jungle cat ready to pounce.

"Eeeh… Imonoyama-senpai…" Suoh stuttered.

Imonoyama Nokoru wondered what had gotten to them in five minutes he left them, "Here! It's going to melt if you didn't eat it quickly." He said as he offered his junior a cone, a mint flavor that's not too sweet.

"Eh uh… thanks." Suoh thanked the blond as he took the offered ice cream.

Tsuna still looked uneasy as he accepted the choco chips mint ice Gokudera bought for him and told the silver haired bomber about the situation, while the younger boys busy chatting with each other. "Keep an eye out… we can't afford…" He trailed off as suddenly his cell phone rang, a borrowed one given by Innocenti for the trip. Tsuna quickly picked it up, it was his homeroom teacher who called, his heart thumping against his chest as he prayed nothing bad happened to his friends.

"Hello? Sensei?"

**_"Sawada-kun!" _**

His teacher was sobbing, what happened over there? "Sensei, what happened?! Is everything alright?"

**"Sob! It's Hibari-kun again! He is picking a fight with a group of drunkard because they're disturbing public peace! There's so much blood and everyone is scared!" **She wailed in panic.

Tsuna face-palmed, _Hibari-san AGAIN_ "Eeh… so… " They expected him to stop HIbari on rampage? "I will see what I can do sensei…" He offered, "I will be back in five minutes." And with that he ended the line.

Hayato had an annoyed look on his face, "Let me guess, it's Hibari again Kaichou?"

Tsuna laughed sheepishly, "Uh… yes, now… where's HIbari-san's number Kusakabe-san gave me…" He wondered out loud as he skimming through his list of contact. "Ah, here it is." He brightened up as pressed the phone to his ear, after a number of ring a grunted hello answered him. "Hibari-san… first of all, please drop whoever poor soul you have your hands on." Tsuna said and after a while, another grunt and then a distant sound of something dropped to the ground. "Thank you… now HIbari-san, I am understand that it's your code to punish misbehaved herbivore…"

Suoh looked at Tsuna who began to talk on his phone curiously, "So he is the kaichou of your school Take-nii?"

"Yeah." Takeshi said brightly, "By the way… I haven't introduced yet to your friend here. "

Suoh tensed, "Ah."

Then he added, "I am Yamamoto Takeshi, Suoh's cousin." It would be rude asking someone without introducing himself first.

"My name is Nokoru." The blond said cheerfully, "Imonoyama Nokoru, 3rd grade of Clamp Gakuen… " He introduced himself, "I am also the Kaichou of Clamp Gakuen Elementary division." He added with a wink.

Takeshi hummed at that, "Oh… you're a Kaichou like Tsuna, I see… kind of unusual to see third grader got to be Kaichou. You must be really good!"

"Not really…" Nokoru said modestly. "Say… I am kind of curious to who your Kaichou is talking. I can't hear clearly from here but…" They had a good ten feet from Tsuna who distant himself a little from the group to talk on the phone. "But I recognize that tone ha ha ha…"

"The tone?" Suoh repeated in confusion.

Nokoru nodded, "The same one I use few months ago to convince Karate club to share their dojo for few weeks with Judo club while we renovated Judo's dojo hall…" He explained with a sigh, "Meaning… trying to pacify and haggling with someone with difficult personality…" He said with a glint on his eyes.

Difficult personality… Hayato and Takeshi echoed on their mind, that's an understatement of the century when it comes to Hibari Kyouya.

"And man… they're so stubborn about sharing space even though they had plenty of space for everyone… " Nokoru continued with tired tone. "Sharing is caring, ne?"

Takeshi just laughed at that, "I see… ha ha ha."

Nokoru stared at Takeshi's empty hand and frowned, "Oh my… we should get another cone for you."

"Huh?" Takeshi blinked owlishly. "What?"

"All of us have ice cream." He gestured to all of them who had one cone in hand with exception of Tsuna who was busy on phone so Gokudera was holding two ice cream. "I will go buy one more!"

Takeshi blinked again then ran to follow the younger boy, "AH wait! You don't have to buy me one!"

Tsuna was about to end his call when he saw Nokoru dashing off. He was followed closely by Takeshi, who was trying to get the blond boy to listen to him. Was it just him, or that boy had so easily wormed his way in to their group?

"Hm…" He felt it again, the feeling of being watched so closely that… Tsuna's eyes widened when he saw a group of man in black suit approached Nokoru and Takeshi, and engaged them in conversation.

_Mafia?! _It was too fast to conclude it just from their apparel, but Tsuna learned to prepare for the worse.

"Kyouya…" He murmured, "Where's the rest? Do you keep an eye on everyone?" Kyouya disliked to be referred as part of their group, but urgency in Tsuna's voice was another matter entirely.

_"Yes, Sasagawas and the others are in the crowd… Anything alarming I should be aware of Omnivore?" _

Tsuna swallowed, "Listen… something is up, please ask your squad to keep an eye on everyone. Get the teacher to gather students and check in to the hotel earlier. Do what you must to get the teacher to do that." Which basically meant, Tsuna could be careless of how Kyouya got the job done, their priority was the safety of students and teachers.

_"I will send Kusakabe as proxy, where're you?"_ Kyouya demanded.

Of course Kyouya was not one to waste his time on herding herbivore, which he could delegate to Kusakabe and rushing to his aid instead. "I am…"

"Uargh!"

Tsuna turned around and saw a group of men in black and one of them had broken nose courtesy of Takeshi's shinai. "We're near the southwest gate of the park." He informed the older boy, "Wish me luck." He said before he ended the line and by the time he did so, Takeshi and Suoh had managed to defeat most of the men in black. He was almost relieved but his eyes widened in horror when one of them snuck behind Nokoru and captured the blond boy by his wrist.

"Imonoyama!" He called out to warn Nokoru but the blond didn't have any mean to escape.

"Imonoyama-senpai!" Suoh exclaimed in panic.

"Don't move!" The adult shouted, "Do as I say and none of you would be harmed!"

Nokoru glared at the gun pointed at his person, these men seriously think that they could bluff about killing kim?! The chance of someone wanted him alive was 98% as he was an asset when he was alive and kicking not dead. "Leave them alone and take me." He drawled with a smile, "It's only me the one your superior want, isn't that right?" Nokoru smirked when he felt the man stiffened.

Suoh gaped at that, "Imonoyama-senpai you…" But before Suoh could voice his objection he was knocked out cold, and the last thing he saw was his cousin falling beside him and sound of struggling from Nokoru and Tsuna.

They're captured.

It's the first time his hyper intuition taught him something called Murphy's Law. When it told you something was going to go wrong, it would go wrong in the most spectacular way.

* * *

><p>"WHAT?!"<p>

Hibari Kyouya wondered the wisdom of telling Sasagawa that Omnivore Sawada was probably off to one of numerous troubles he seemed couldn't stay away from. Then again he answered because Sagawa couldn't shut up and it's getting on his nerve, learning from past experience Hibari found relenting (when it's not hurting his pride) to Sasagawa's query was less damaging for his ears and mind. "Yes, it seems Sawada and his pack are captured so shut up and don't bother me."

Sasagawa Ryouhei of course didn't listen to the last part as he opened his mouth again, "We have to save them to the EXTREME!"

HIbari was about to permanently rip Sasagawa's voice cord to shut the boxer up but fortunately for Ryohei, Katou Nagi joined the conversation. "Do you know how to get to Kaichou? Anything?"

"No." He replied curtly and silently vowed to put a tracking chip on Sawada if the omnivore survived this. Namimori elementary needed Sawada as their Kaichou, damn it.

"THIS IS EXTREMELY BAD!" Ryouhei exclaimed.

The herbivore figured that out by himself? Wonderful, today was the birthday for his first brain cell it seemed. Hibari thought sarcastically.

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere unknown <strong>

Suoh woke up in the same time Takeshi did, and of course none of them were pleased to see they're locked in a room that couldn't be anything but a prison. Gokudera was still out cold but it didn't take a long time for the bomber to catch up and he woke up when Takeshi was fiddling with his handcuff. While Takeshi could open the handcuff, he was no expert so it took some time and Hayato was not that patient so he snatched the senbon from Takeshi's hand and unlocked his own handcuff in few seconds.

"And that's how to do it faster." He huffed, slightly unnerved at the rapt attention he got from the two cousins. "You should be able to do it better than this, you're ninjas for god's sake."

Takeshi shrugged, "To be fair… we're trained to do it but we're never in a practical situation that require us to be in hurry." Hayato snorted at the respond.

"It's enlightening nevertheless…" Suoh added. "So… shall we get going to save Imonoyama-senpai and Sawada-senpai?"

Hayato nodded, "They got us by surprise before, but now the element of surprise is in our side." He smirked mischievously, "They'll never see it coming."

And true to Hayato's prediction they didn't. It only took Takeshi trashing a bed nearby (how nice of them to provide us one, he thought) to attract the attention the guards, hid in blind spot when they checked the cell and then knocked them out cold. Hayato was too happy to interrogate one of their enemies Suoh and Takeshi had pinned to the wall with kunai. When the man refuse to cooperate Hayato calmly shoved two small dynamites on his ear and threatened to put another on his butt, the man started singing like a canary afterward.

Suoh in the other hand while concerned for the two kaichou's safety, he couldn't help but wondered how Hayato could hide so many dynamites on his person and didn't get caught. Sure, that he and Takeshi-nii could hide a lot of weapons on their belt, the back of their clothes and the sole of their shoes, but they carry as much as they could hide, Gokudera-senpai seemed like he had a four dimensional pocket for his dynamite.

* * *

><p><strong>Back in the City Park <strong>

"Shut up." Hibari was pissed and somehow, a small blessing it was that Sasagawa's miniscule brain cell did its job and the boxer wisely shut his mouth as told.

Of course it didn't take long for Sasagawa to speak up again but fortunately this time it was not his extreme rant. "So Hibari, this is the last place you heard of Sawada and we completely lost them from here? Should we call police or something?"

Hibari snorted, "If a pack of useless herbivore could help Sawada, Kusakabe would have called them… and Sawada's homeroom teacher already did." He did call Sawada's allies, that colorful haired man and his sister and informed them about the situation. Namimori was ten stops away from Tokyo so it would take around two hours by car.

It was unfortunate HIbari didn't have the advantage of small and smart yellow bird his parallel counterpart had to track Sawada down, it would have saved them a lot of trouble if he had Hibird with him. Then again knowing Sawada, he had a penchant for trouble and also devil's luck in getting out of it in unlikely way. Now… if Sawada's luck holds true, one way or another they'd somehow stumble to something that could solve their problem.

In short period of knowing Sawada Tsunayoshi, Hibari had learned that Murphy Law loved to toy with him as much as Lady of Luck did. On minute they screwed with him and the next they loved him to death.

"Uhm anoo…" A timid voice stuttered.

Hibari glared at the speaker which turned out to be a boy a little younger than he was with curly red hair and thick glasses, "You!"

"AAAH?!" Sasagawa pointed the newcomer in shock, sputtering like an idiot. "You are…" He trailed off then stopped, "Who are you again?" He asked sheepishly, earning a sweat drop from the newcomer and irritated growl from Hibari.

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere in Tokyo~<strong>

They were sitting in luxurious semi-circular couch, in a room that spoke the wealth of the owner. They had a large modern couch, Persian rug, crystal chandelier and art nouveau paintings adorning the wall. Tsuna was nervous but he didn't show it outwardly for several reasons, first because showing weakness wasn't going to help him but the other way around, second, Imonoyama Nokoru was a perfect picture of calmness so as the older of the two, Tsuna felt inclined to do the same. Third was his curiosity in why their kidnaper didn't put him in a cell like they did their friends?

Nokoru had explained that he was the youngest son of a rich family so it's probably for money but he also wondered why Tsuna was kept with him. When asked if he was from a wealthy and influential family Tsuna could only smile weakly and said.

"I live in a two storey landed house with three bedrooms, one kitchen, one bathroom, etc…" He listed down, it's not a lie per se as he does live in a modest house. As much as he hated to admit it, his 'family' the extended one (Vongola) that related to him by blood was indeed could fit the bill of wealthy and influential. He desperately hoped that's not the case as that meant that airhead father of his screw up and information about him was leaked to rival famiglia or something along that line.

Nokoru raised an eyebrow, and Tsuna instinctively know Nokoru had an inkling that Tsuna didn't lie but misleading him with that statement. "Okay." He was polite enough to not inquire anything.

Tsuna was relieved but it didn't last long when the double mahogany door opened and a red haired woman walked in with confident smile. The woman was a beauty, with shoulder length red hair, green eyes and hourglass figure that would make eyes turn to her. Tsuna calmly observed the woman, and the way she looked at them reminded him of a hungry lioness gazing at a fair gazelle. Tsuna didn't miss the contemplating look she had when she turned her attention away from Nokoru and switched to him.

He had to wonder what the woman wanted from him.

"My my… what a pleasure to have you two as my guest." The woman said as she raised her arms in dramatic manner.

Tsuna didn't know what to retort for that, but Nokoru did. As if getting kidnapped by a gaudy woman was a daily occurrence to him. The boy stoo,d then as if it was normal thing to do the woman offered her hand, which Nokoru accepted gentlemanly with a gentle kiss. "The pleasure is all mine miss…" He murmured, trailing off as a gesture for the lady to give out her name.

"You live up to your reputation as a gentleman… Well then, you can call me…" She glanced at the lily-looking flower on the nearest vase and answered. "Casablanca." How cliché, but Tsuna didn't say it out loud.

Nokoru nodded, he appeared unperturbed by the name Casablanca decided for herself on the spot. "Lovely name for a lovely lady." Tsuna would like to very much argue about her loveliness, as she was their kidnapper. "Although I have to admit the invitation is a little too rough to my liking." He added with a tint of coldness in his voice.

She chuckled softly at that, "My apologies if my subordinates were… a bit rough on you boys." She shot the nearby guards a glare and they recoiled. "But well… I can't get through you with normal means so I have to resort to this."

Tsuna blinked owlishly when her hungry look was turned to him. He almost thought with how focused she was in Nokoru, she had forgotten about him. "Unlike Nokoru-kun here, you seems like you need to learn one or two from him in how to treat a lady…" She purred.

It seemed they're not in immediate danger. Whatever she wanted was still on debate however. "Did you just ask kidnapped kids to treat the kidnapper like a lady?" He wondered out loud, "Sorry Casablanca-san but did you know that… pedophilia is the worse kind of crime?" Tsuna usually won't response with this kind of retort but he imagined Innocenti would say this kind of scathing remark, which will make Casablanca lose her cool and control. "This is Japan, but shotacon is still a crime. You even kidnap us…" He added sadly.

Casablanca sputtered, "I am not a pedophile! And not Shotacon either!" Tsuna was surprised she even understood the term shotacon. "I don't want your body boys! That's not why I kidnap you!"

Nokoru covered his restrained laugh with a cough; he didn't expect Tsuna to rile the lady up like this. "Sawada-senpai, please don't tease the lady…" He chided Tsuna good-naturedly. "After all… we're her guests."

Tsuna could tell that Nokoru himself didn't believe that they're as much as a guest as they're prisoner. "Well…"

She cleared her throat, "Would you like some tea?" She offered, approaching a cart where the tea sets were placed. "Nokoru-kun takes his with milk ne? How about you Sawada-kun?"

"You've done your research." Nokoru observed.

Tsuna felt his heart was beating louder against his ribcage at the word research, _damn it! If she researched Imonoyama-kun to the point she knows what kind of tea he likes, who knows how far she found out about me. _

"I can't drink anything a stranger serve to me, especially my kidnapper." But still… he and Imonoyama just happened to cross path in that park, so _it's either Imonoyama's bad luck or mine to run to each other_, Tsuna thought.

Nokoru smiled at that, somehow he found the older boy as a fascinating individual with wit that impressed even him. "I agree… so why don't we cut the chase?" He murmured and he knew the next sentence was the same one Tsuna had in mind. "What do you want from us?"

She laughed softly, probably amused by their impatience. "Well… I am not interested in money, what I want is… you, both of you."

Tsuna's eyes widened at that, as he couldn't comprehend why would anyone wanted him. "Pardon me?"

Nokoru just raised an eyebrow, not even disturbed by it. "Well… I'm not a commodity." He began, "You can want me all you want." Tsuna looked at Nokoru as if the younger boy had grown another head. And Tsuna was pretty sure in spite of the way Casablanca eyed them like limited edition of Channel bag, it's not the case. "You should realize I'm not available for sale…" Then he glanced at Tsuna, "And I believe neither is he."

She giggled at that, "My… you're funny! The wealth of Imonoyama is definitely tempting but! It's nowhere as precious as the mind of Imonoyama Nokoru, the genius NASA has been biding on for years. Your brilliant mind that will ensure our success electrical engineering field. We're in an era when those triumph in science rule the world." Casablanca murmured as she closed in to cup Nokoru's chin, trying to entrap the young boy in her grasp but Tsuna had another idea, "Which is why hmph!"

"That's enough." Tsuna hissed as he pushed Casablanca off of Nokoru with throwing pillow at her face. "Talk but no touching… it's unnerving to see a grown up woman like you doing that, we're minor in case you forgot."

"I am not molesting him!" Casablanca sputtered.

Tsuna shrugged at that, placing himself between the sputtering woman and Nokoru. "Regardless… from what you said, I suspect you want him to work for you?"

"Indeed."

Nokoru sighed at that, "Sorry… but I'm not interested, I have no reason to oblige."

"You're…" Casablanca opened her mouth to remind them of their status as prisoner.

But Tsuna cut him off, "I very much doubt bodily harm is an option if you want his full cooperation." He pointed out. "Why don't you let us go and we go our separate ways as if this never happened?"

Casablanca snorted at that, "You wish, but it seems you're so eager to leave my company… Sawada-san. Are you not interested in what I want from you?"

"Frankly I am curious." Tsuna admitted, "Unlike Imonoyama-kun over here I am…" _Nobody of importance, _he was going to say.

**"The heir of Vongola famiglia…"**

Tsuna used all his mental strength to not let panic to color his face, he expected the woman to had an inkling about him and Vongola but not the heir part. "Vongola?" The word rolled off of his tongue as if it was foreign. "Famiglia?" His mind worked furiously to remember and practiced Innocenti's teaching, how to lie to your enemies. He had been taught for months to do this and real life situation was completely different he supposed, but Tsuna tried his best to get hold of his body reaction. He let a wrinkle form on his brows, keeping his eyes still and locked to Casablanca's as the lie rolled naturally from his tongue. "What? I am the heir of what?"

"You really have no idea?" She questioned curiously with a tint of doubt.

It was fortunate he was young, so the act of titling his head to the side was very expressive and cute that Tsuna could see Casablanca lowered her cautiousness. "No, this is the first time I ever heard of it. Aside from seeing it in Pizza hut's menu once… on seafood pizza." It was ironic that he easily put up a façade of clueless little boy, but it was for a good cause.

She laughed softly. "My! So you really have no idea of who you are?"

Actually Tsuna was pretty sure she misunderstood the heir part, as currently the heir was his younger twin and not him. "I am ten but I am sure I know who I am." He huffed, projecting an image of a boy who didn't like to be told that he didn't know something as simple as that.

Nokoru narrowed his eyes as Casablanca continued to laugh at Tsuna's pout, and he had a feeling what he saw on the surface was a lie. Of course Tsuna's act was believable, but in short term knowing the older boy who acted so mature in the park the way he acted now was out of character. Nokoru himself was no stranger to the name of Vongola, they're after all one of the leading company in IT field and other vital field in this age. As funny was it was for a mafia family to be called clam, no one would laugh at the oldest and strongest famiglia in the world. Sawada-senpai was a Japanese, it didn't make sense for him to be the heir of mafia. As far as he knew, mafia was pretty strict when it comes to ancestry.

"Let me give you a short history lesson." Casablanca said, which snapped Nokoru out of his musing. "Bring that here." She instructed to one of her men and he hurriedly exited the room to do so. "Vongola Famiglia…" She began theatrically," It's the oldest and strongest mafia family in the world…"

"Mafia…" Tsuna echoed, displeasure was clear on his voice. "I am sure mom pay tax every year, so we can't be family of criminals." Actually Vongola paid their tax, at least his parallel counterpart did.

Casablanca looked annoyed the boy interrupted her, so she stubbornly ignored Tsuna's objection. "Vongola is more than just a mere mafia family, they're one of few superpowers in the world with wealth and influence that could even put even developed country to shame."

Nokoru whistled at that, "I heard they actually beat NASA's Apollo 11 to land on the moon, although it's hushed up quickly." Although he had to wonder why a mafia family bothered to fund such thing. But nah… his family did those kind of things too for the heck of it or because it was interesting.

"Indeed." Casablanca nodded in agreement, "Vongola is that powerful that it's not too much a stretch of imagination that they rule the underground world... Several other Famiglias serves under the Vongola umbrella, and their long history speak up that they're living up to their title as the best and the strongest."

Tsuna was not impressed by the short introduction, and to be honest he was getting tired of it. He wanted to make sure what had blown up his secret, and how to make use of it to escape. His thought was cut short when her subordinate entered the room, holding a framed painting that covered half of his body. "That's…" He trailed off in shock.

She smirked mischievously as her subordinate placed the painting on the table, her nimble fingers rested on the ornate frame. "This is the portrait painting of Giotto of Vongola, the first boss of Vongola Famiglia." The painting of Giotto who was sitting on a red velvet coach, serene expression on his face as he placed a dried leaf between the pages of book he was reading.

Nokoru looked back and forth between the painting and Tsuna, it didn't take even a second to see the resemblance. Nokoru stared hard at Tsuna who suddenly become very silent, hoping the older boy was not in too much shock.

Surprisingly Tsuna looked up at Casablanca then said, "Have you ever heard of _There_ are 7 people that look alike in the world? I just happen to look like this man in the painting and you conclude I am his descendant just from that?!" He asked incredulously, "I got kidnapped over a painting?!"

"Giotto of Vongola retired to Japan, of course it's not just your looks boy!" She returned hotly.

Tsuna however was determined to deny the connection even if his mouth run dry, "If Vongola is the oldest mafia family, when do you think this Giotto guy retired to Japan?!" Casablance promptly answered two and half centuries ago. "Which mean if he is indeed my ancestor, he suppose to be my great great great great grandfather! What's the chance of me just happen to looks like him and descend from him?! Beside… what's the guarantee this painting is accurate enough?" He pointed at the painting as if it was some sort of evil incarnate.

"Shut up boy!" She had to admit the boy had a point, but there's no way she'd admit it out loud. "Regardless… I expect your full cooperation!" She ordered them as if she was the queen and they're her royal subjects.

He looked at her incredulously, "For what? You want to blackmail this Vongola family or something?" Tsuna inquired with a huff, looking at the tenseness she had when he said it he was not far from the truth. "Sorry, but I honestly doubt you can do that with holding a ten years old boy who happen to looks like their first boss…" Actually they would, as much as Tsuna disliked his father, he knew Iemitsu would raise hell for his safety.

"Don't you think that is…" He trailed off a little mischievously, "Pretty reckless? Won't they annihilate you for slandering their first boss or something if you do that?"

She paled at the prospect and Tsuna was glad to know it seemed this organization she headed was in much lower strata compared to Vongola, "Well…" She trailed off, starting to lose her cool. "Whether we can use you or not is still up to debate, one way or another we will get some proof on you. DNA test or something like that…"

Oh shit…

Then she smirked, turning her attention back to Nokoru. "In the other hand Nokoru-kun… about my offer…"

Nokoru smiled charmingly at her as he tapped her fan against her palm, Tsuna eyed the fan and wondered where it came from and since when Nokoru had it. "I am sorry milady… but as I said you have nothing in me to make me to accept your offer, and as Sawada-senpai said… bodily harm is out of question. Why don't you let us go and we go to our separate ways? You can't control me and you have too many loophole to make use of Sawada-senpai, and it's seems a dangerous affair to try threatening Vongola."

Tsuna smiled at Nokoru, he was grateful the younger boy brought up a valid point. "I agree… "

She snorted, "Of course… but you boys forget something, as smart as your mouth and mind could be… boys would be boys, so impulsive."

No… she wouldn't dare! Tsuna screamed on his mind.

"I don't know about Tsunayoshi-kun here… but I know Nokoru-kun always keep everyone around him at arm length, because getting too close to you will involve them in danger." Nokoru paled at what she was implying. "We are keeping your friends in basement prison now… it's been a while and I think they would have bawled their eyes by now…"

Tsuna's eyes widened at that, so this boy was constantly in danger that he had to isolate himself? His eyes softened at Nokoru, he was reminded of himself a little when he just found out about his connection with Vongola and distant memory of his parallel counterpart who had to put his friends in danger.

Nokoru swallowed, "They don't have anything to do with this! Leave them alone!"

"Then…" Casablanca smirked, "Just say yes and I will let your friends go."

Nokoru clenched his fist and about to open his mouth before Tsuna cut him off, "You lied." He drawled as he stood up, "It's obvious that you won't let any of us go… you're a group of criminals and we've seen your face. In your plan our fate is set… there's no negotiation here." Tsuna concluded smoothly. "There's never a 'No' option with you, is there?"

She laughed at that, "I love smart boys… even if you're not Vongola descendant." She eyed him hungrily, and Tsuna narrowed his eyes when he heard Vongola descendant. So… she was not that concerned whether he was the heir or not, she wanted the blood of Vongola, the power of hyper intuition. So her aim was not limited to blackmailing Vongola. "I think my organization still can make use of someone like you Sawada Tsunayoshi… You're sharp enough even without that intuition Vongola is famed of." Now that she freely spoke of her mind, she was absolutely confident she had power over them.

Tsuna snorted at that, "Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow at his reaction, he was too calm for a cornered little boy. "But I am afraid you will not make use of any of us."

"And pray tell why?" She hissed angrily. "Don't forget your friends' life is in my hands…"

Nokoru gulped, this wasn't good. "Sawada-senpai…" He tugged on Tsuna's sleeve, "That's enough, she is serious about harming our friend." He warned.

She smirked, "Listen to Nokoru-kun… and be a good boy so your friend…"

BANG!

"Tsuna!"

"Kaichou!"

"Senpai!"

It was pretty comical to see the door slammed open without warning, two unfortunate men who stood beside the door was sandwiched by the door and wall. Both Nokoru and Casablanca jumped three feet in shock because of their friends' dynamite entry. Tsuna just smiled at his friends who came to get him.

"Hi, that's quite an entrance you make guys!" He greeted them jovially.

"Of course!" Takeshi agreed.

Hayato nodded in agreement, "Anything for you Kaichou!"

Nokoru looked wide-eyedly as their friends approaching, "How?"

"I am glad you're safe senpai." Suoh said, "Can you stand up?"

He nodded, "But how you guys can escape from the basement?!" Nokoru asked incredulously. "And the way here should be littered with guards!" He knew Suoh held 3rd Dan for majority of martial arts but to defeat professionals?

"We just beat them up." Hayato supplied helpfully, "Like this!" He demonstrated with chucking a handful of dynamite to a group of men nearby.

Nokoru's jaw dropped, "But but…" That had to be illegal!

BOOM!

Wait… how come no one died but just singed?

Casablanca's yell stopped his thought; she hit a button and glared fiercely at them. "Boys! Stay still! In few minutes this room will be filled with my subordinates, I won't make the same mistake with underestimating little warriors we have here!"

He shook his head, "Never mind! Can you guys hold them back for a while?" He asked as he suddenly dropped to all four and planted his ear against the floor.

"Imonoyama-senpai?" Suoh asked curiously. "I can do that but…"

Takeshi grinned, "Just do what he said Suoh!"

"Just trust me." Nokoru shot him a determined look and Suoh felt some sort of switch flipped in him and he obeyed without question.

He nodded, "Alright." And with that he joined Takeshi and Hayato on the fight.

Tsuna would have joined but he had no weapon in him, and he was pretty useless without weapon against adults so he decided to help Nokoru, whatever the boy had in mind with rubbing his ears against the cold floor. "What are you doing? Looking for something?" He queried as he crouched down beside Nokoru.

Nokoru smiled confidently, "Yep." He said as he gave another experimental knock on the floor.

Tsuna blinked as realization of what Nokoru was trying to do hit him, ignoring the commotion behind him Tsuna scanned around the room, then his eyes narrowed to certain spot. He tapped Nokoru's shoulder and in response of the younger boy's questioning look he stood then walked ten feet to the left. "I think what you're looking for is here." He gestured to a perfectly smooth surface of marble flooring.

Nokoru hesitated but didn't voice it out loud and went to confirm Tsuna's statement, his eyes widened when he gave the spot an experimental knock. "How?"

He glanced subtly at Casablanca who was shrieking order like a banshee at her subordinate and confirmed there's no way she could hear him from this distance and chaos. "Intuition." He answered honestly, "We can save this for later and get out of here first."

"Right!" Nokoru agreed before he turned around and yelled, "Everyone over here!"

"Let's get out of here!" Tsuna added as their friends drop unfortunate souls they were beating up and run to their direction.

* * *

><p><strong>Present: Discordant Orchestra (Last Part) <strong>

**"All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."  
><strong>_― Seán O'Casey_**  
><strong>

The moment they got inside the bulletproof car, which was relatively their safe zone, Yagami Raito began to swear in six different languages in regards to certain brunette. Nokoru flushed a deep red as he just learned five new curses in Chinese and Dutch. "Wow… never know your vocabulary is that extensive when it comes to curse." He couldn't help but commented, "But really… Yagami-senpai, this is not the first time Sawada-senpai charging head on to danger."

Yagami scowled at that, "Yeah I know… he always tried to keep his head down but he is the first in line to charge to danger in the name of justice."

"Justice?" Nokoru snorted, "The last time I asked him about being hero of justice, he said he has no interest in getting even."

Yagami frowned, "Justice is not about getting even."

He shrugged, "He said, Justice is a beautiful word… revenge twisted by sense of righteousness." It was always like that since he knew the Sawada Tsunayoshi, he never did anything because it was right but because he must. He shoulder everything he had done as based on his own judgment, if it's wrong it was no one else's fault but his.

"Sawada always know how to play with words." Raito admitted as the car sped up through the road, "If I didn't know better I'd think he could bullshit his way out for everything."

* * *

><p>Two miles away from the bulletproof car Sawada Tsunayoshi sneezed, "I had a feeling Yagami-senpai is criticizing my folly by now." At least what he considered as folly.<p>

"Ha ha ha ha." Takeshi laughed at that, "As long as you understand each other."

Tsuna rolled his eyes as he turned around the corner, following what his hyper intuition told him. "Understand each other…" He repeated, "I hope so…" He conceded, "Speaking of which… I feels my brother's flame is approaching someone else's."

"Is he going to engage someone in combat?" Takeshi asked curiously.

Tsuna nodded, an exasperated sigh escaped his lips. "If my brother is still the same boy I know in my childhood days." Which he was and still is." I am afraid he is going to challenge them like a man."

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere else, on the rooftop. <strong>

True to Tsuna's prediction Natsu encountered the brown haired girl and she had him at gunpoint. Not that Natsu was on the verge of getting killed of course, as he had snapped the gun in half by the next second. "Damn you!" The girl cursed as she jumped back to distant herself from Natsu.

Normally Natsu won't challenge a girl but Reborn predicting that, the arcobaleno shot Natsu with dying will bullet first before he saw his opponent. All Natsu had in mind was "Defeat my enemies with my dying will!' and his manly chivalry be damned. Of course usually mafia won't attack a girl, but Chinatsu was anything but a defenseless girl.

In fact Reborn could say this fight was where Natsu had come closest to death. Gokudera Hayato was way superior compared to this Chinatsu girl, but when Gokudera had no intention to kill Natsu, Chinatsu had every intention to kill Natsu and she had better weapon when it comes to lethality. Each close call Natsu made as he evade Chinatsu's bullet was one step from death, and Reborn had to admit Natsu should end this soon before he run out of dying will bullet. Chinatsu was relentless in her assault, and she has zero hesitation to kill Natsu.

This was a true assassin.

According to intelligence he gathered, this girl had just joined Orchestra last year. Just one year and this girl had already hardened by blood and firearms. The way she attacked was… relentless, just like a storm that never rest.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Stay still, damn it!" Chinatsu cursed.

"I will defeat you with my dying will!" Natsu roared as he punched the machine gun Chinatsu was holding to pieces.

The girl cursed and rolled to the side to evade Natsu, putting distance between them. However Natsu was faster than she was and before she could grab another gun he had reached out to grab her. Unable to reach for her trusted firearms in time Chinatsu swung her right leg in reflex to bat Natsu away. She miscalculated that the hand that reached out had grabbed her leg instead.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with grabbed a leg trying to kick you, however it's different matter entirely when your opponent was a girl and she was forgetting a pretty vital piece of lingerie. While dying will take most of your reason to focus your everything to accomplish a task, noted the 'most' part, which mean there's some reason left. Not to mention it's been quite a while since Natsu was shot so the effect started to wear off.

Natsu's eyes bulged the size of dinner plate at what he saw, blood rushed to his head and spurted from his nostril. Even Reborn had his eyebrow rose by two millimeters at the sight, but of course an _experienced _man like him won't have nosebleed like Natsu. "You're really a brat, Natsu."

It took Chinatsu three seconds to comprehend why Natsu stopped on his track and having a bad nosebleed. She flushed a deep red all the way to the tip of her ears, folding her grabbed leg with force and Natsu was pulled in when he was in a daze. Chinatsu didn't punch Natsu, but her palm was opened wide as it slammed against Natsu's left cheek without mercy, leaving a perfect red fingerprints.

"Hentai! Hentai! HENTAI!" She shouted as she slapped Natsu again and again, forgetting her firearms completely. In fact her sense of reason was completely overwhelmed by her shame that she forgot she supposed to kill Natsu, instead of slapping the boy to hell and back.

The slaps however woke Natsu up from his daze and before another slap could land on his cheek he caught the offending hand with his right hand and punched Chinatsu's stomach with his left. The pain made the assassin girl keel over, holding her stomach. "Kuh!"

Natsu blinked, realizing what he had just done out of instinct. "So… sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!"

Chinatsu grunted it's hurt too much to even stand. "Whaa…t?" What kind of man felt sorry for his assassin?

Reborn couldn't decide whether he had to be proud or ashamed, "What a lame way to win." On top of that Natsu got bitch slapped like that. This was going to be one of those things he had to keep in tight lid the moment Natsu ascended to be Vongola Decimo.

* * *

><p><strong>One hundred feet away from the Rooftop <strong>

"What a disappointment." The man in white couldn't help but commented, holding his binoculars down. "That boy is really going to be the next Vongola boss?" He wondered out loud.

"Unfortunately as much as I loathe it, he is." A calm voice answered.

The white haired man didn't turn around, he knew the owner of that voice well. "Then why don't you stop running away from your fate and accept it? You know that you'd make better Vongola boss than him, don't you think so? Sawada Tsunayoshi… the rightful owner of Vongola ring."

Tsuna stood few feet away from the white haired man, narrowing his eyes in displeasure, "Fate? Don't make me laugh, if I can run away from it then it's not my fate to be Vongola Decimo."

He snorted. "She will catch up with you sooner or later I am sure." He retorted mischievously, "…Beside, what will you do if something bad happened to your brother because you keep running away from your destiny? Won't you call that a bad decision?" He drawled in skeptical tone.

Takeshi who stood on Tsuna's growled, "You dare…" To call everything they had worked hard for as mistakes?!

Tsuna raised his hand in placating gesture to Takeshi, and the rain quieted down. "I won't confuse poor decision making with destiny, beside…" He cracked his knuckles. "Shiroi Akuma-san, you really have a bad manner, barging in to make our life difficult. Have you nothing better to do?"

Shiroi opened his mouth to correct his name, Tsunayoshi and his friends had repeatedly refused to call him by his name. That was how much they hated him to a point not even his name was not acknowledged. It never tired him to correct the rightful owner of Vongola ring though. "My name is…" He stopped on his track when he saw that smile, one that promised pain and lots of it. He began to sweat nervously, correcting his name was forgotten.

Tsuna gave him the best look that convey 'Like I care?' which pretty scary in his opinion. "Now… how should we settle this, hm?"

Shiroi flailed his hand. "Maa maa… I guess I am a little overboard with insulting your brother, but you have to admit he is not very bright. Seriously, that girl bitchslapped him."

"My brother…" Tsuna trailed off as his voice became glacial, "Is just…" He trailed off then settled on, "Naïve… He is thirteen."

He'd like to point out that Tsuna was just a few minutes older than Natsu and anything but naïve. "I think the word you should be looking for is slow." He corrected with a scoff. "Isn't he?"

Tsuna's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I am sure my brother is pretty fit to outrun any healthy adult."

"Now you're just in denial, or did the power of brotherhood love blind you from the truth?" He seriously asked, because for the first time since he came to know Sawada Tsunayoshi it seemed the brunette suffered an IQ drop. "Admit it, your brother is not very bright, and he is pretty slow over here." He tapped his temple. "Are you sure you're going to let your brother to inherit Vongola family and the ring?"

"Yes." Tsuna answered without hesitation, "He is thirteen, a little naivety at that age won't kill anyone as far as I concerned."

"He is a mafia." Shiroi pointed out. "It will kill him."

"That's what Reborn is for." Tsuna pointed out, crossing his arms. "So he'll survive until he gets better." _Like my parallel self did._

Shiroi rolled his eyes. This was getting nowhere, and frankly they always talking in circle because neither was willing to relent in their argument. He wanted Tsuna to embrace his destiny, while Tsuna wanted to screw with the said destiny. "To be honest, tonight I just want to see how good he is. It's disappointing really… he doesn't have hyper intuition yet and still fighting in his boxer." He listed on dryly. "Isn't he suppose to have two years ahead of your parallel self in his training?" Tsuna didn't answer, to be honest he couldn't deny it's partly because Natsu didn't went through what his parallel self did. Natsu was trained, not fighting for survival like Vongola Decimo did. There was a world difference in that.

"Are you done insulting my brother, Shiroi Akuma-san?" Tsuna asked coldly.

"I am stating facts." He corrected, "At the rate this goes I didn't even have to lift a finger to eliminate your brother from the board, or maybe I should have take care of him and save all of us the trouble." He suggested mirthfully.

Tsuna clenched his fist; then again this man had never been subtle with his intention. How much this man hated Natsu for being the heir of Vongola, a player that have no place in his script. "Or…" Tsuna suggested and his voice turned glacial. "I can take care of you here instead." Smiling benignly at probably the most hated man he had ever known. "And save us all from the trouble, demon." He crackled his knuckle. "Takeshi, don't interfere…"

"Yes Kaichou." Takeshi saluted.

He laughed softly, "I admit I am frightened of you, a little." He raised his pinky finger. "More than a little perhaps since you have such a scary face on you now, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Is that so?" Tsuna drawled wryly, "Then perhaps you should think twice before you lit my anger." Tsuna hissed as he stepped forward, his eyes took lighter hue and shimmering like a blazing flame.

Shiroi smirked, "Can we even fight here? Don't be a fool." He waved his arms in placating gesture as if it could calm he enraged older brother before him, "At this distance Arcobaleno Reborn will notice your sky flame and mine. Are you sure you want to risk blowing your cover you have nurtured so carefully for the last two years?"

Tsuna didn't stop his advance, and not even a hint of doubt marred his face. Yamamoto Takeshi was outright laughing at him. "Noticing our flame? Really… do you think I am a type of people who throw my logic out of window when facing you of all people?" He asked incredulously, "I believe I deserve more credit than that, after all…" He trailed off, "I indulge you in that petty conversation, didn't I? Do you think I'd even bother without a purpose?"

His eyes narrowed, then he glanced at the sea. "Come to think of it, we're so near with the sea at night but I didn't feel any wind blowing." Shiroi chuckled softly, "Sometime in mid of our talk I think, the wind stop blowing in this rooftop." He glanced at the sky and noticed something transparent glinting, and when he looked carefully the whole building they were standing on was encased in some sort of barrier. "Shouichi-kun's invention… last time you use this too, I recall the name is Sanctuarry… a flame based barrier that isolate everything within." He smirked. "My… now, I am really scared."

"Too late to notice that now, don't you think?" Tsuna said pointedly.

He agreed, "True, but to be fair you always distract me." He said coyly.

Tsuna didn't dignify that with pointing out how wrong that sounded. There's no end of this man's mockery, and Tsuna'd like nothing but to wipe that smug look from his face. "In that case." Tsuna's form blurred from Shiroi's very eyes and the next thing he knew a gloved hand punched him from his left, sending him sprawling to the ground. "I will take that distraction as my advantage…"

The white demon coughed out blood, his pale cheek swelling red. "Well, I am not inclined for another dance for tonight, can't we just talk? Diplomacy is your forte, right?"

Tsuna snorted as he dashed towards the white demon, "And I am not inclined to indulge your shameless posturing and self indulgent bragging!"

"Ha ha ha… as amusing as ever!"

* * *

><p><strong>Back to another rooftop, with Natsu and Reborn<strong>

Natsu was not sure he had to help the girl to stand or not, but judging from her pained expression she'd better lay down for a while. He turned around and glared at Reborn. "You made me hit a girl!" He roared.

"An assassin girl." Reborn corrected, then glanced at the duffel bag full of weapon that at one point had been kicked so far away to the corner of the rooftop. "She is far from helpless, and she probably has killed more people then she has met." He pointed out coolly. "Your point? You fend yourself from an assassination attempt, that's all in it."

Chinatsu squirmed, that last hit had been brutal on her solar plexus. She froze when she tried to stand, because Reborn pointed his gun at her, his cold eyes as if staring at her very soul. "You should be grateful that I didn't ask you to dispose of her yourself, Natsu." Reborn said coldly.

Natsu quickly stepped between Chinatsu and Reborn, "I won't let you kill her, Reborn."

Reborn narrowed his eyes, "Which part of she comes to kill you so you got to kill her before she did you that you can't get Natsu?"

The brunette swallowed, "But even so… she could barely stand! We don't have to kill her!"

"We don't." Reborn agreed, "But it's better to take care of her now."

"Like hell!" Natsu snarled.

Chinatsu narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me… but I got to agree your sensei is right."

"No, he isn't." Natsu said stubbornly, ignoring the sound of knuckle Reborn made threateningly in the background.

The older Japanese's left eye twitched, "What kind of idiot let people who tried to kill them to live?"

"I am not an idiot!" Natsu shouted indignantly.

"Say the pervert in boxer." Chinatsu droned. "And printed boxer, Jolly Roger at this age?" She mocked, eyeing the black boxer with skull pattern.

Natsu flushed a deep red, "This coming from a girl who don't wear her panties?! Who is the pervert here?!"

It's Chinatsu's turn to blush a brilliant scarlet, she quickly sat up and fold her hands on her lap. "I'm not a pervert!"

"Then wear your panties!" Natsu said with blushing face, pointing at the assassin girl with accusing finger, "Beside! If you're an assassin, wear some pants and not skirt! You're flashing everyone, or is that the feminine wiles strategy?!"

Reborn wondered if it's a correct time to remind his student that criticizing your assassin was definitely not a good attitude for a mafia boss, unless it's part of bragging when the mafia boss defeated the said assassin.

"No, it's not! I like my skirt, and I go commando not because I'm a pervert!" Of course neither male in vicinity believed her. "I shoot better if I go commando!"

"Like I can believe that!" Natsu snapped hotly.

As the greatest hitman in the world he supposed they had their own way to get on their top shape, to be honest going commando was not as weird as what he had seen in his long career.

"Oi, you two." The arcobaleno reminded them of his existence. "Natsu move aside, and girl, stay still and it will be painless."

Natsu scowled, while Chinatsu just crossed her arms as she accepted there's no way she could escape Reborn. Her sensei would be alone again, but Chinatsu was sure he would survive. "Reborn you!"

Chinatsu raised her hand, "Can someone lend me a phone, I am sure I am entitled to have last word with my mentor."

Reborn snorted, and then tossed his spare phone to the girl. "Go ahead."

"OI!" Natsu snapped, "Is the greatest hitman in the world going to execute a helpless girl?!"

"A helpless girl with topnotch skill that tried to kill my student." Reborn added, eyeing his gun with interest.

Chinatsu grinned as she dialed her mentor's number, "My! Grazie." Enemy or not, Reborn was the greatest hitman in the world, and as a hitwoman that was praise in the highest order for someone in their profession. Chinatsu had to say she could die happy, "Hello, Shishou?"

**"Oi Chinatsu… what's going on there? This is not your number." **In fact there's no number could be seen on his screen, a hidden number.

Chinatsu hummed, "You see, Shishou. Signor Reborn lend his to me so I can tell you my last word before I reunited with my parents." She said as if she was talking about going shopping with her friends. "Perhaps I won't, I will go to hell after all! Te he~"

**"You got caught, girl?" **Carlos snarled, **"You idiot... keep talking, I will go to your location." **It was likely their enemy caught Chinatsu in her sniping point, that was pretty near from his location. "**Even if I can't save you at least I want to see your last moment, and perhaps avenge you if I could… don't worry I will run at the first sign of danger. " **

Chinatsu laughed softly, "Yes… yes, now Shiiiishou… listen well, make sure you always maintain our instrument even though I won't be there to remind you, brush your teeth every day, you can eat the pudding I left in our fridge, always wear fresh underwear, and make sure to wash your laundry or send it to dry cleaning service."

**"Yeah, sure." **

That was seriously her last will? Natsu couldn't help but thought, she sounded like a mother reminding her kid about his chores, before she was off to housewife social gathering.

"Yep yep! And also… burn my stuffs including my lingeries, don't forget the black one with white lace. It's my favorite!" She ignored Natsu's blushing face, "I also want you to burn an incense for me every year on 15th July." She added with a grin.

Did she just make her _Italian_ mentor to celebrate Obon on her honor?

"And don't forget that…" She trailed off.

"You are taking too long." Reborn cut her off. "Say good bye now, or not at all."

She guessed she was pushing it, so this was how she'll die. At least dying in the hand of greatest hitman in the world is not as lame as beaten up by pervert in boxer. "Okay, Shishou… good bye." A lone tear fell from her eyes. "I love you." She said as she ended the line with a click.

That was the most humane he had ever seen of her, her embarrassed reaction aside. Regardless of how many lives she had taken, Chinatsu was still a human who loved her teacher.

"Prepare yourself." Reborn said, cocking his gun.

"Let me take my hat off." She said as she placed her hat on the ground. "Please let this hat here, I want my teacher to take it back later."

"No problem, ready?" Reborn was getting tired.

"I was born ready." She quipped. "And will die ready."

Natsu once again stepped in the firing path, "Stop, she didn't have to die! I mean… she is not going to kill me." Not anymore.

Chinatsu slapped her palm against her forehead, "I was! Now move away, boxer boy!"

"NO!"

Reborn sighed, "There's one condition to let she live."

Natsu perked up at that, "Fine! Then tell her!" He demanded.

Reborn tipped his fedora. "She has to be your subordinate." Reborn said in solemn tone, "Swear her fealty to you, and abandon allegiance to Orchestra."

Chinatsu didn't even consider it. "Not going to happen." Chinatsu said without a hint of hesitation. "This guy is an idiot, but not a bad guy I admit." Chinatsu said, smirking at Natsu who sputtered indignantly. "But I will not betray my mentor."

Reborn shrugged, he already knew that. "I wish we can recruit you before your teacher did, unfortunately you're too loyal to betray him to save yourself. Admirable loyalty…" He turned to his student, "Understand now? She'd rather die than to live for someone else."

"But…" Natsu gritted out. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS, REBORN!" He wanted to say something to save this girl but there's no reason came up on his head.

"I can and I will." He said and kicked Natsu to the side. This was Natsu's greatest strength and weakness, he might be an arrogant and brash brat most of the time but he was also kind. Unfortunately this world didn't treat kindness kindly.

Natsu whimpered but his strength was waning, an after effect of dying will bullet. If only he is as smart as Tsuna he'd been able to convince Reborn to let her go. Reborn who respected his brother, acknowledging Tsuna's capacity. If only… "If it's Tsuna, you would have listen! Right Reborn?!"

"No." Reborn answered without hesitation, he was about to pull the trigger and Chinatsu closed her eyes.

He closed his eyes he couldn't see this! For the first time in his life Natsu wished with all his heart that his older brother was with him. "Nii-san!"

"Yes?" A gentle voice replied.

Natsu blinked that instead of the sound of gunshot he heard Tsuna's voice instead. He opened his eyes slowly, instead of dead body of Chinatsu and Reborn's smoking gun, what he saw was Reborn hiding his gun on his pocket, Chinatsu was trying to hide her hat behind her and whistling. Tsuna was near the door that connected to the rooftop to lower level. Yamamoto was following closely behind him and for some reason he was carrying Tsuna's jacket.

"Tsuna?"

The older twin didn't answer instead he marched to where Natsu was sprawling on the floor and gave the younger twin a flick on the forehead. "Aww! What was that for?!"

"What are you thinking?! Running off like that when terrorist is attacking this port!" Tsuna scolded him.

Natsu blinked owlishly, "Terrorist?"

Tsuna nodded, "Yes, most of them have been arrested by now but it's still dangerous to go off on your own." Tsuna chided, crossing his arms in disapproval. "I won't ask why you ran off, but how do think I would feel if something happen to you?"

The younger twin swallowed, and in the background no one dared to utter a word, letting the twin to have all the time in the world they needed. "But I am fine…"

Tsuna eyed the bruise and scrapes on his body, and Natsu shrank under Tsuna's gaze. "I am not blind Natsu, I know injuries when I see it. You have to get those treated accordingly as soon as possible."

"Yes…" What else he could say? He glanced at Reborn and Chinatsu, he noted Yamamoto was chatting with Reborn and Chinatsu was glued on the floor. She didn't move, because she knew one wrong move she'd become a Swiss cheese. While she was ready to die, she wanted a quick and clean death if she could choose.

Well, Tsuna did stop Reborn from killing Chinatsu although it was not intentional.

"Natsu… I am waiting." Tsuna tapped his feet impatiently.

Natsu looked up in confusion, what did he mean by… Oh. "Right… I am really sorry." If there was one thing Tsuna could do well as an older brother since forever, it was making Natsu apologize if he did something wrong.

"And…" Tsuna pressed.

"I promise I will not do it again." He added. He never knew he missed this brotherly routine, although back then instead of stern Tsuna would pester him with big doe amber eyes for this. He looked up, gazing at Tsuna's amber eyes, as beautiful as he recalled unlike his dull brown one. However it no longer held childish innocence of his old dame brother. "Are you hap…" Natsu's snide remark was cut off when Tsuna pulled his younger twin to an awkward hug.

Tsuna closed his eyes, "Thanks God, you're alright… My heart almost stopped when I saw you leapt on that staircase, don't do that again…" He murmured gently to his younger twin's ear. "Just don't." He pleaded.

Reborn's heart was as cold as the coldest ice in the middle of South pole, but he couldn't help but warmed at the sight of the two brothers. "Well… " He trailed off, glancing at the grinning Yamamoto. "How do you guys know we're here?"

Takeshi laughed at that, "Tsuna put a tracking device on Natsu when we were in restaurant, Natsu seems to be keen on running off back then so Tsuna put it on him as precaution."

Why did Tsuna have a tracking device with him in the first place? But it was unlikely Yamamoto Takeshi would answer that. "I see…" His eyes shifted, glancing subtly to the Tsuna's jacket Takeshi had hanging on his right arm. There was black stain on the sleeve, eyes less sharp than his would have missed it not to mention Takeshi quickly folded it and tucked the jacket under his arm.

Why did Tsuna have burn marks on his jacket? Reborn frowned, not exactly burn marks but the sleeve accidentally brushed against something that burned.

"Did you guys just play with fire?" Reborn asked.

Yamamoto grinned weakly, "Nah… nothing like that."

Although… Tsuna did go a little overboard, Takeshi thought to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Back to Discipline Committee, and the abandoned rooftop <strong>

"Tsuna-nii went a little overboard." Lambo couldn't help but say as DC members running around the vicinity to clean up the mess.

Kusakabe stared at Lambo in disbelief, "A little?! Kaichou scorched the whole rooftop black!"He exclaimed, pointing at the blackened rooftop.

"Hai hai…" Lambo rolled his eyes, "Just get to work and fix this place so no one finds out." Lambo ordered as he scrutinized the thing on his feet. "But still… another ¥ 180.000 doll." He muttered, kicking the human shaped charcoal.

Kusakabe raised an eyebrow, "Out of curiosity, how we even know the cost of this body double _that man_ makes?"

"Every single time he met Tsuna-nii, he'd always start with self indulgent bragging… " Lambo said, kicking the charcoal body as he didn't have anything better to do. "That's including the low cost needed to produce his double, to be frank… I have to wonder if we had ever seen the real Shiroi Akuma at all since we know his existence."

Kusakabe narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth around the toothpick. "Hm… what does that man want from us? From our Kaichou?"

"Tetsuya, don't bother to be concerned about that." Hibari cut in as he walked towards the charcoaled doll. His dark eyes gazed at the charred remain in disgust. "I don't care what that man wanted from us. All we need to do when we find the real him is…"

WHAM!

One swing of Kyouya's tonfa torn the already charred remains to pieces, Kusakabe gagged while Lambo wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yikes! Kyouya-nii, that's so unhygienic!"

"Hn."

"Don't you hn-ed me!" Lambo yelled, "You're just bitter that Tsuna-nii finish this one without waiting for you, right!"

"Hn."

"And because Tsuna-nii was mad that you follow him here instead of guarding his brother like you're told!"

"Hn."

Lambo opened his mouth to hurl another remark but stopped, "Never mind…" He grumbled under his breath, "This one-sided argument is not worth my time."

* * *

><p><strong>One hundred feet away, with Tsuna and co <strong>

"Hai…" Tsuna said to his phone, "Proceed to securing the perimeter, I will leave the cover up to you then Hayato." He ended the line and put his phone back to his pocket. "As you requested, Reborn… everything happen tonight and our involvement will be kept as secret by police force." He winked, "I would have done it even if you didn't ask though."

Reborn nodded approvingly, "I appreciate it."

Tsuna returned the nod, and then he glanced at Chinatsu who opted to be mute throughout the whole ordeal. "And the lady over there? Who is she?"

Natsu swallowed, Tsuna didn't notice she was the same girl who bombarded them? Then again Tsuna saw the girl from afar and that ugly brown hat she was wearing was tucked to the pocket of her skirt. "Uhm… she was caught in the crossfire! I… saved her!"

Reborn didn't miss the way Tsuna's eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the girl then back to his younger twin. "I see…" Tsuna knew Natsu lied, "That's very nice of you… If she prefer, our school staff can take her back to her home. A young girl shouldn't be out so late in this kind of place…" And he played along with Natsu's lie.

There's no mistake, Sawada Tsunayoshi had awakened his hyper intuition. However the boy seemed like he didn't notice or passed it as some sort of gut feeling. Then again Tsuna was raised an a civilian, the best clue he had ever had of his hyper intuition was perhaps a strong sixth sense. He narrowed his eyes at the older twin, what should he do now?

He was well aware of Reborn's eyes trying to bore hole on his back, perhaps the hitman already had a feeling he had awakened his hyper intuition. Frankly that little revelation didn't bother him at all, there're lots of worse thing Reborn could find out about him. And that white bastard was on the top of the list Reborn should never find out, their relation at least.

Tsuna tensed suddenly, his hyper intuition was in alert again.

* * *

><p><strong>Few minutes ago<strong>

Carlos gasped for breath as he scaled the stair to reach the rooftop, the building was located right buildings behind the one Chinatsu was positioned in. He had no high hope in saving his disciple, the least he could do was watching her last moment and if he was lucky he could get a shot on her executioner to avenge her. When he reached the rooftop and used his binocular to observe, and he hoped Chinatsu had not died yet.

She had not, she was alive and in fact she didn't seem to be in danger of dying. "What the fuck?!" He sighed in relieve. "Oh well… she was still captured."

Now how should he do to help his cute disciple to get away? He scanned her surrounding, as he plotted his move. There was that ninja-boy not far from Chinatsu, a baby ( Was it infamous Reborn), a half-naked brat a little far away from the group together with…

Vongola Decimo!

He lost track of that boy before, and now Decimo was right under his sniping range. All he had to do was kill the boy, the other would be busy trying to save the boy and Chinatsu could easily slip away unnoticed. Yes… that was a wonderful plan, and he had this mission completed too.

"Get ready brat." He prepared his riffle, locking the target and his finger began to pull the trigger. Carlos however didn't expect the boy to suddenly whipped around and look at his direction as if he knew and…

**BANG! **

Tsuna knew someone was aiming for him, but he couldn't move. He and Natsu was in one line of the firing range, if he moved Natsu will… He was careless, and all he could do was reached out to drag his brother out of the way and hoped the bullet didn't get his vitals. Natsu let out a yelp of shock and protest as Tsuna pulled his younger twin down. Everything happened so fast and Tsuna braced for the pain the moment he heard the gunshot.

Nothing came.

Tsuna opened his eyes quickly, inspecting his brother in fear the bullet got Natsu. The younger twin looked confused but unharmed, did the sniper miss?

"Noooo!" Hysteric scream of a girl startled him out of his wits. "Shisou!"

He turned around, his eyes widened when he saw a familiar white figure on the building next to them. There was a figure of a man kneeling beside the white figure, before it fell to the ground. Could it be the male Orchestra member? Their eyes met and Tsuna could almost hear what those eyes were trying to convey, **_'I can't let this minor character to interrupt our grand stage, for his insolence he had to die.' _**

Tsuna's eyes widened when the white figure kicked the Orchestra member, and the body fell on mercy of gravity. The girl let out another hysteric scream as she run towards the falling body, as if she could help her mentor. It was of course impossible, and the body fell from five stories building and crashed to the concrete ground.

Carlos of Orchestra was… dead, and when Tsuna's eyes try to search the white haired man, the demon was nowhere in sight.

"Il Demone Bianco." Reborn drawled, "Why is that man here?" The Arcobaleno wondered out loud with grim expression.

Tsuna's heart was beating loudly on his chest, as he knew the answer. That man was here for him. He suppressed all bodily reaction that could give him away, and he had to think up a response. Tsuna however didn't have to say anything to distract Reborn as Chinatsu screamed bloody murder.

"Who is that?! Who is he?!" She howled in rage. "I will kill him! I will kill him!" She chanted in hysteria.

Takeshi ignored the hysteric girl as he ran to Tsuna, his expression was mix of horror, shock and most of all fear. "Tsuna!" He had almost lost his sky, and it all happened in his watch.

"We're fine..." Tsuna returned and before Takeshi could say anything he grabbed Takeshi's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I am fine." He repeated firmly as his eyes locked to Takeshi's. _Don't you dare to feel guilty, it's not your fault! _

Takeshi swallowed as he returned the touch, he was terrified that he'd lost his sky. It's not about whose fault, he had almost lost Tsuna! He steeled himself, he couldn't break down here. He had to stay strong and supported Tsuna no matter what, that's what Tsuna wanted from him.

When he was sure Takeshi was alright Tsuna turned his attention to his brother, "Natsu, you're okay?"

"Yeah." Natsu answered in a daze, it seemed his younger twin didn't realize they had just escaped death. "Uhm… could you let me go now? And it's getting cold, so… I'd like some clothes." He sniffed.

Takeshi grinned as he put his duffel bag down, "If you don't mind the size I can lend you my hakama top." He had kendo today.

Natsu accepted the grey kimono; it came down to his knees. "Better than nothing, thanks." He said as he tied the belt. It looked like he was wearing a short yukata, but he was not going to complain as long as he was clothed. He looked up and startled when he saw Chinatsu ran towards the stair followed by Reborn. "Wait! Reborn!"

"Natsu!" Tsuna called out and ran after his brother, "Mou! Why you always…" Takeshi just smiled at Tsuna, this time he'd make sure to not even bulge an inch from Tsuna's side. "Takeshi." Tsuna said in warning tone as they ran down the stairs, "Please don't hover me."

There goes the plan.

As they ran down the stairs Natsu understood where Chinatsu was going, she was going to see her master's body. So Natsu requested Tsuna to not follow him to the dark alley, he didn't know what he was sputtering but Tsuna in the end gave in with one condition, he got five minutes and by then he had to return to his brother or Tsuna will go after him.

He agreed with that condition and ran after Reborn and Chinatsu. He found the two of them not far from the entrance, there was a pool of blood and dead man. Thankfully the alleyway was dark and he could barely see the condition of the corpse after falling from such height. Chinatsu was kneeling beside the body and Reborn was sitting on a stacked crates. Chinatsu was crying but there's no sound coming out from her lips, Reborn was equally silent and Natsu couldn't find anything to say. This was the corpse of a man who tried to kill him today, and there's no word he could say to Chinatsu who was left behind.

Chinatsu turned to face him, glaring heatedly before she sighed in exasperation. She reached out for the cross necklace the dead man was wearing and untied it. Blood had dyed the cross red and half of the silver chain was dyed in the same color. She brought the cross to her lips and whispered. "Adieu… Shishou."

She stood up and went towards Natsu with determined stride. "Here and now I shall pledge my life to you Vongola Decimo."

"Wha…?"

"Don't misunderstand my words." She said coolly, "My loyalty still belongs to Carlos Acerbi and Orchestra, however I am willing to give the same loyalty to you as long as Vongola help me to avenge the man who responsible for my master's death."

Natsu opened his mouth to respond, "Well…"

"If you won't accept her alliance, she dies." Reborn said simply.

Natsu nodded almost frantically, "Of course! Welcome to our family! Err… I am Sawada Natsuhiko and… what's your name again?"

She snorted and gave him a beautiful smile that made his heart skip a beat. "Chinatsu… I am Seto Chinatsu, nice to meet you Boss."

Reborn smirked, it's not planned but Natsu got one guardian at last.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside of the Alleyway <strong>

"You know what happen in there right? Omnivore…"

Tsuna shrugged, "I know."

"Tsuna-nii, that girl tried to kill him." Lambo hissed.

Tsuna shrugged again, "If I recall correctly… half of _his guardians_ tried to kill him…"

"Ha ha ha ha… " Yamamoto laughed. "It's basically a tradition in Vongola, I guess."

"Who cares." Hibari growled, "The problem is what happen next, you know what that baby will make you do!"

Tsuna sighed wearily, "Of course I know, and frankly what do you expect me to do? I myself have to agree it's a good arrangement, and I hate to see my brother have to defend himself alone."

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later… <strong>

Natsu's jaw dropped when his homeroom Teacher, Hishigi-sensei introduced them a new transfer student. Chinatsu was waving at him, smiling as if she was a normal girl and not a assassin. He had to admit she was very cute in Namimori-Gakuen uniform.

"Hello… My name is Seto Chinatsu." She introduced herself with soft voice that obviously faked, "Due to my terminal illness…" She coughed a couple of times. "I was hospitalized for a long time… so even though I am two years older than you I am placed in this class, I hope even though I am older we can be friends…" She muttered softly.

FAKE! So fake!

All male students in the room eyed her figure appreciatively, they didn't mind her age if it get her that killer figure, while the female students vowed to protect their new frail onee-san from hormonal boys. Natsu didn't need hyper intuition to see his class had been divided to two factions, courtesy of Seto Chinatsu.

Great, he got an ex-assassin and con-woman as his first guardian. He hoped his next guardians were saner and less weird.

Tsuna was watching the whole ordeal from security camera on the screen of his phone, they're still in class so he hid his phone behind his opened book. Tsuna could tell what's running on Natsu's mind as his younger twin stared at his newly acquired subordinate, and as concerned older brother Tsuna could only hope Natsu can survive the moment his hope for normal individual to enter his guardians rank squashed and died a horrible death.

As for himself, he hoped Kyoya could keep his temper in check with new addition to their school that undoubtedly would disturb their peace.

Then again 'Harbinger of Chaos' was Vongola's second name. There's no peace as long as they're around.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay... Rain me with hail of flames for late update! As long you guys want to risk me having an episode of anxiety attack and update slower. "I make a threat, GASP!" <strong>

**At any rate... this chapter is EXTREMELY hard to write and I am so GLAD it's over! Perhaps in next chapter it would be the LAST for past section. Depends, as I never make a solid plan. **

**In this chapter I highlight Natsu's good qualities and Tsuna's real nature that he is not a perfect good guy. This part is the hardest to write, the part of Chinatsu's development with Natsu. Chinatsu is basically a female Bel with more common sense.  
>For those who are dying to know how strong Tsuna is... sorry but this chapter only give a flash of it, I want to keep it a secret a little longer ^^ <strong>

**And also... I am planning to have Dino come first for future part, but actually in canon Bianchi comes first. So what should I do... hm... oh well I will decide later but I have a feeling most of you will scream for our Hakuba Ouji LOL **

**·ˆ¯)...(¯ˆ·.  
>¸.·ˆˆˆ(ºvº)ˆˆˆ·.¸<br>m m**


	10. 9th Axis

**AN: Before anyone pinch their cheek, nope this is not A DREAM this tardy magician really DID an update in one month. A present for my readers for awesomeness of reaching 1000 reviews milestone ;_;  
>Thank you for following my story ^^ and here is your new chappie of Parallel Axis of Sawada Tsunayoshi. <strong>

**"If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way."  
><strong>_Rephrase of Murphy's Law by Robert Murphy_

**Past : Murphy's Law part 2**

For the first time in his life Tsuna found he hated the lack of air and gravity. The secret passage was a small circular lift that was meant for one adult, two children wereno problem but five children was pushing it. The speed of the lift going down was not helping their predicament.

"Do you think they'll follow us?" Suoh asked with bated breath. He was in the middle of the pile.

"Nope." Nokoru who was the top of the dog pile chirped.

Hayato nodded in agreement, "This kind of escape route is designed to open once, so they have to use a different path to pursue us." Hayato who was the son of a prominent mafia boss explained the tidbit of how an escape route's mechanism works. His father built the same kind of escape route for their family after all.

By the way Hayato was the bottom of the pile with Takeshi, while Tsuna was under Nokoru.

"Makes sense, so no one can pursue her when she uses this escape route." Tsuna supplied, "Which also means wherever we end up, Casablanca will know."

The other four blanched, "We're not out of danger yet."

Tsuna's hyper intuition promptly agreed with Nokoru.

**Somewhere in Tokyo, with Hibari, Nagi, Ryohei and ? **

Four children plus one unfortunate taxi driver were speeding up through the busiest street in Tokyo. Yells of rage and blaring klaxon filled the road as the taxi zig-zagged and cutother vehicles' path. It was a miracle no accident happened yet.

The unfortunate taxi driver wondered what he had done to deserve this. He was an honest and hardworking father with two children, and he had been working as a taxi driver for five years. He was always polite with his passengers; he had never taken tips, and obeyed traffic lights.

So when four children hijacked his taxi, one of them threatened to bite him to death, and Oda Hiroshi could only wonder who he had wronged in his past life to deserve this. In the midst of his panic and horror, a small part of his mind wondered how many traffic rules he had broken today.

"Keep going, Herbivore." The ill-tempered child said from the passenger seat beside his. "Or else."

"Oi Hibari." The white-haired child yelled, "That's extremely rude to this nice guy who have let us hitch a ride!"

He didn't let them hitch a ride. They hijacked his taxi!

"Hn."

The red-haired boy whimpered, "Uhm… after the traffic light, please turn left." He said before once again pukinghis lunch to a plastic bag. "Urg…"

"Irie-kun, are you alright?" Nagi asked worriedly to the boy who sat on her left.

The newly revealed Irie Shouichi nodded, although his pale face said he was not okay at all. "Uhm… just a little more… the car that kidnapped Tsunayoshi-kun and co is already near."

Ever since he received the memory of his parallel self, Irie Shouichi had tried to get in contact with Tsuna and co but he had always lost his nerve before he got close. Today was the same, he went as far as skipping school to follow Tsunayoshi to Tokyo in hope that he could catch Tsunayoshi and co alone.

Imagine his shock when he witnessed a group of men kidnapping Tsunayoshi and his friends. He knew he stoodno chance if he confronted them head on so he opted with sneaking a tracking device on one of the cars they used. He had used one to track Namimori Elementary's bus and had spares to use on the kidnapper's car.

He was lucky that Hibari Kyouya, Sasagawa Ryohei and Chrome Dokuro appeared on the scene of the crime and he offered his assistance. He thought everything would go smoothly if not for Hibari, who instead of calling the police force had decided to hijack a taxi to rescue Tsuna.

"Are we extremely there yet?!" Sasagawa Ryohei asked impatiently.

Irie raised his right hand shakily, "In five minutes, urp!"

There goes his lunch.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Tsuna and co <strong>

A freaking roof, this must be the joke of the century. Who makes their escape route exit on a freaking roof?! Tsuna and his friends thought incredulously as the warm wind of summer ruffled their hair gently, as if mocking them. An old mafia family like Vongola would make their exit to a cave, another manor and so on. However in the case of Casablanca's manor that couldn't be older than ten years, the exit was on the rooftop because she expected to use air transportation to escape.

Something they didn't have.

Nokoru pulled out a small rubber penguin, "Hm… I have an air balloon but it can only carry two people."

"People as in children our size?" Tsuna asked.

Nokoru nodded sheepishly, "Yeah… at most 70kg."

"They will shoot us." Hayato added.

"Which means air route escape is out of the option." Suoh cringed at the prospect.

Takeshi looked around, "This is too high to jump down, and I don't think we can climb down either…"

Tsuna tensed and in an instant both Hayato and Takeshi looked around in alarm. "They're coming! Hide! Quickly!" Tsuna barked as they scrambled to look for places to hide.

Nokoru and Suoh didn't even think to ask how Tsuna knew when they heard ruckus coming from the exit tunnel. In their haste to hide and no hiding place could be found, Takeshi and Suoh followed their instinct and grabbed their friends and jumped down.

BANG!

Slightly ruffled Casablanca came out from the exit, a number of her subordinates followed closely from behind. "Where are they?!" She roared in rage.

"They're not here!"

"There's nowhere to hide here!"

Casablanca screamed in rage, "They must have been hiding inside somehow! Go back to the tunnel!"

"But miss! There's barely enough space to walk inside!"

"Shut up and look for them!" Casablanca roared as she shoved her subordinates down the tunnel.

Spell of silence fell in the air as the last man followed his boss back to the secret tunnel. After ten seconds Takeshi dared himself to pull himself up so he could see his surrounding and he didn't find anyone in sight.

"Take-nii." Suoh hissed, "Is it safe yet?"

Takeshi nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think going back up is wise."

"Why?"

Sound of a helicopter's rotor answered Suoh's question.

Hayato grunted as he tightened his grip on the roof's edge, "Damn them."

Tsuna huffed, "I'm sorry but… unlike you three." He panted. "Nokoru and I can'thold on hanging like this for long!" He gritted out.

Nokoru nodded frantically, one of his arm clung on Suoh's sleeve for assistance. "We have to think of something!" He had a harder time than Tsuna to keep hanging on the roof.

Hayato scowled, "What should we do now?"

Tsuna and Nokoru looked at each other then to the window that was located around four feet below them. It seemed theywere thinking of the same idea, and neither of them were capable of pulling the plan off. Their friends however…

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Hibari and co <strong>

"We are here…" Shouichi said as he and Nagi crawled out of the taxi, while HIibari and Ryohei looked as fit as ever.

The taxi sped up as soon as Hibari exited the car, and even though they had no intention to hijack and were willing to pay the fee the driver would rather to be as far as possible from Hibari Kyouya.

No one could blame his wise decision.

"We're extremely here!" Ryohei cheered as he rantowards the high classic fence that was no doubt worth a fortune.

"Wait!" Shouichi tackled Ryohei before the older boy could go far, "There's CCTV on the gate!" He hissed.

CRANK!

"I don't think we can worry about that now." Nagi said as she pointed at Kyouya who had knocked the fence down and smashed the camera to bits.

Shouichi once again felt the familiar pain on his stomach as they rushed inside. He hoped his stomach could hold on until they saved Tsunayoshi.

* * *

><p><strong>Casablanca's manor <strong>

"We should be trapeze artists!" Takeshi said as he hung upside down, hooking his leg on the edge of the roof while his hands were swinging Hayato's legs.

Hayato stretched his body as long as he could as he tried to reach for the window frame, "Shut… up!" He gritted out as he once again failed to reach the window.

"There's… nothing for you to hold on Hayato." Tsuna pointed out, "Use the kunai to get it." He suggested with bated breath, his hands were getting slippery because of sweat.

Hayato perked up and quickly stabbed the window frame with kunai he borrowed from Takeshi. "Nice! Kaichou!"

The window clattered a little but hopefully not noisy enough to alert their pursuer.

"Takeshi, pass me one more kunai." Hayato requested and Takeshi tossed him another.

The silver-haired boy used the kunai to cut the glass as fast as he could, and as soon as the glass was cut off he quickly inserted his hand inside and unlocked the window. Takeshi and Hayato quickly got inside with little difficulty before moving on to help Tsuna and Nokoru.

Tsuna and Nokoru sighed in relief as they sat on the carpeted floor. "We're saved for now…"

"I thought my arms were going to fall off…" Nokoru moaned as he massaged his sore arms.

Tsuna stood up, "My arms are sore too but we have no time to rest…"

Nokoru nodded in agreement, looking around the room. It was a spacious bedroom.

"Guys, help me take off the bedcover and curtain." Tsuna said as he tugged on the white fabric.

"Are we going to make the classic braided cloth to use as a makeshift rope?" Takeshi asked curiously.

Tsuna shook his head, "No way… this mansion is ten storeys high! It's too dangerous to climb down even if we have enough cloth for that."

"We're going to make a makeshift parachute from these!" Nokoru informed them cheerfully.

Tsuna's eyes shifted to the side, he didn't really like the idea but they had to act fast.

"Eh… we're done." Suoh and Takeshi chorused.

"Fast!" The other three were shocked the cousins could make it in record time.

Takeshi grinned as he showed them the three parachutes they made. "We used to do this when we were five as a game!"

"It's fun." Suoh admitted shyly.

The other three couldn't help but wonder what kind of game the two ninja cousins played when they were young.

"Okay!" Tsuna snapped them out of their musing. "I am sure Nokoru and I need assistance, and since Suoh and Takeshi has experience we will pair up with you." He turned to Hayato, "Are you okay going down alone?"

Hayato nodded, "No problem, Kaichou!"

"Let's go then." Tsuna said as Takeshi flanked him.

Suoh opened his mouth, "Takeshi-nii you…"

"Takeshi." Before Takeshi could grab him to go down with their handmade parachute, Tsuna warned him. "No shouting 'watch out below' please."

It seemed Tsuna didn't need Suoh's warning that Takeshi was going to yell that.

"He he he…" Takeshi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before he grabbed Tsuna and they jumped down.

Tsuna had to bite his bottom lip to stifle his scream as they descended to the ground, it was a slow descent but not slow enough for Tsuna's taste. His heart was beating loudly in protest against his ribcage as gravity slowly pulled them down on its embrace. Tsuna guessed they had fallen down at least twenty meters from the top floor of the mansion and that's a few meters from the ground left. As they landed not so gently on a bush Tsuna ignored the small scratches and the shame that Takeshi had to drag him off of the bush with carrying him bridal style.

"Are you alright Tsuna?" Takeshi asked cheerfully, "We have to do this again some time! This is fun!"

Tsuna's eyes shifted to the side as he refused to face Takeshi's cheerful grin. "Let's not talk about it now but later… much… later."

If he gets acrophobia from this, it would never be spoken of again.

"That was fun! We should do this again! Or better! We can add this as part of a sport festival!"

Apparently Nokoru was in the same book as Takeshi, or worse he was going to make a festival out of it. He really missed his home now, but for now he'd settled on saving themselves and back with their friends and teacher.

Speaking of friends, it seemed he had forgotten about some peoples that no doubt wouldn't stay idle after he was kidnapped. He had a feeling, which in his case was very likely true. His friends, namely Kyouya, Ryohei and Nagi hadsomehow managed to be in close proximity with this mansion.

"Guys." He called out, "I have a feeling that…"

BOOM!

"Is that Hibari?" Hayato guessed as he squinted his eyes at the pillar of smoke in the distance.

Tsuna face-palmed, "Very likely so… did he ever learn the meaning of subtlety?" He wondered as they started running towards the source of the explosion.

"I don't think that word even exists in his dictionary, Kaichou." Hayato muttered.

Suoh and Nokoru looked at them curiously, "Who is Hibari?" Nokoru asked curiously.

BOOM!

Hayato turned around, jerking his thumb at the new rising pillar of smoke, "That's Hibari."

Nokoru blinked owlishly, "A bomb?"

"Close." Hayato muttered, "On second thought a bomb would be less destructive than Hibari."

Tsuna sighed wearily, "Let's just forget stealth, with Hibari-san around it's impossible."

They had learned that the _hard_ way when they infiltrated Phantasma Circus. They didn't want to blame Hibari that rescue mission turned into a disaster, but let's face the fact, it's Hibari who beat people to half-dead left and right. They would have gotten away unscathed if Hibari could keep his tonfa to himself. Hibari could keep secrets, but in action he was never subtle.

Since then itwas a unanimous vote to keep Hibari out of everything that needed subtlety. So Tsuna decided since sneaking out of this place was rendered impossible by Hibari, they may as well barge their way out under Casablanca's nose.

"They're here!"

"Get them!"

**Meanwhile with Innocenti and Rin, on the way to Tokyo. **

"I can't believe this!" Innocenti cried in frustration.

"It's Monday and we're on the busiest road to Tokyo." Rin deadpanned, "We should totally take the train not car."

Innocenti snarled, "Are you mad?! On the public train that is packed like a sardine can?! We're carrying firearms and the likes, and you suggest we take the train?!"

Rin banged her hands on the steering wheel, "And now we're stuck here! Stupid traffic jam! ARGH!" She cried out in frustration.

**Hibari's team**

It was fortunate the ten-storey mansion stood out in the middle of the vast forest they called a garden. But it was unfortunate that Hibari at this age couldn't be stealthy even to save his life (if he ever needed to do that) so in his every step he triggered one alarm and another, trap after trap, and so on.

They might as well use a speaker to announce their arrival and carry a billboard.

It was purely brute force that let them advance towards that mansion, courtesy of Hibari and Ryohei while he and Nagi stood on the back watching the carnage. He wanted to go home already…

"Hic!" Shouichi whimpered as he and Nagi hid behind a tree as Hibari shed more blood to the ground, teeth flying, bones breaking and so on. At least he was not alone and Nagi was not going to join them.

Or so he thought.

Nagi pulled out her card gun and aimed, "Fire!"

There goes his only harmless companion, who had never been harmless in the first place.

* * *

><p><strong>Tsuna's group, ten minutes later…<strong>

Their pursuer at last caught up with them.

Tsuna sighed as he didn't even bother to turn around to look, "Hayato, just blow them up." Never would he imagine he'd give Hayato permission to blow things up, but in this situation he couldn't bring himself to care about material casualties.

Hayato complied gleefully, "Yes! Kaichou!"

BOOM!

"Burn in hell bastards!" Hayato cackled evilly.

Suoh looked at Hayato warily and scooted closer to his older cousin. "Take-nii, I think…" He stopped when he saw Takeshi was spreading caltrop to the ground. "Take-nii…"

"Hm… do you have any smoke bombs with you Suoh?" Takeshi asked as he rummaged his pocket for more weapons. "I have some flash bombs though." If Tsuna gave Hayato permission to blow things up, so did he.

"Since when you're this inclined to make so much chaos?!" Suoh asked incredulously.

Nokoru laughed cheerfully, "This is fun!" The most he had ever experienced even though he was running for his life in the midst of explosions, fire and smoke.

Tsuna face-palmed, Nokoru would fit in Vongola easily. "I hope this chaos is enough to attract Hibari."

The faster they could reunite with their friends, the sooner they could get the hell out of here. Never mind the destruction and half-dead body trails they left. He hoped it wouldn't be a routine, and he promptly stopped that line of thought. He'd be better off not hoping for this kind of thing because it tended to end up horribly wrong.

"EXTREEEEEEME!"

Faster than they could see, a yellow blur crashed towards a thick tree before it bounced back towards their direction or rather crashed on Tsuna this time much to Hayato's horror.

"We extremely found you Sawada-Kaichou!" Ryohei roared as he gave Tsuna a crushing hug.

Tsuna struggled to breath, "Yes, thanks… for finding us..."

"Oh, it's Ryohei-senpai." Takeshi chirped, as if that explained why the boxer crashed on a tree and squeezed the oxygen out of Tsuna's lungs.

"Get the hell away from Kaichou! Turf top!" Hayato scowled as he pry pried Ryohei off of Tsuna.

Ryohei huffed as he let go of Tsuna, "Tako-head! Your temper is extremely as bad as ever!"

"Senpai!" Tsuna called his attention, "How did you find this place?"

Ryohei grinned. "Irie helped us! He is extremely good!"

As one Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi tensed, there's was only one Irie they knew in common. "Irie Shouichi?"

"Yes…" A timid voice replied, "It's me…" A red head followed by Nagi came from behind a tree and walked towards the clearing they occupied.

"Kaichou!" Nagi called out before she too gave Tsuna a hug but much gentler than Ryohei's. "You're alright!"

"I am." Tsuna said as he gave Chrome's shoulder a comforting pat. "Uhm…" He glanced at Shouichi who looked ready to curl up in the corner to hide his nervous face. "Thanks for your help."

He nodded hesitantly, "I understand we have so much to discuss but…"

Tsuna nodded, "This is not the correct time." He continued as he glanced at the side where Hibari was wreaking havoc in the distance. "Let's get Hibari first."

"I agree to the extreme!" Ryohei agreed, "Hibari beat up extremely too many people already!"

Tsuna face-palmed and all of them started running towards the direction of the explosion and chaos. What did he say again? It's their enemy that needed saving from Hibari.

"Here I thought we could just run towards the exit, but nooooooo!" Hayato moaned, "We need to save our kidnappers from Hibari!" He grumbled as he ran not far behind Tsuna and the rest.

Nagi glanced at Tsuna, "I don't think we can pry Hibari-san off of his current opponent until he is done."

"Why not?" Tsuna queried curiously.

"His opponent is…" Nagi trailed off but a pained shriek cut her off.

Tsuna and his friends jumped away from a half-battered middle-aged man who suddenly ran towards their direction, flailing in panic before he fell down and crawled to get away from whatever that chased him down. The old man looked at them gleefully, a mad gleam on his eyes as he reached out for them.

Tsuna's eyes widened as he realized who it was.

* * *

><p>What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?<br>Vincent Van Gogh  
>Read more at quotestopics/topic_ #yUGBLF4ttvlUIvMY.99

**''What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"  
><strong>_Vincent Van Gogh _

**Future: Normal Days in Student Council and Mafia**

A certain event was forever etched into the mind of the Chief of the CIA's Europe Division.

It had happened during his visit to Tokyo, Clamp Gakuen for the purpose of settling the disputes between the CIA's Asian Division and the Security Department of Clamp Gakuen in regards to one of their experiment stealth jets being shot down when passing by the school ground without permission. It was not on purpose though as the said jet was supposed to fly around International waters. However somehow it passed by Japan's territory and crashed in the school area. The latter was not their mistake as the jet was shot down by the school's security system.

Apparently it was not stealthy enough to bypass the school's system, and while both sides were willing to keep it quiet, they wanted compensation from each other.

CIA was unhappy for the lost prototype, and with it, millions of dollars. IOn the other hand Clamp School was unhappy the said automatic stealth jet bypassed their territory without permission. Money was not an issue for them, but paying for CIA's mistake was an insult. Not to mention a number of their staffs and students were there when said stealth jet crashed on their garden. To avoid international conflict the school was forced to lie to cover it up, and on top of that CIA dared to ask for compensation.

Bookman was a shrewd negotiator, and he was sent in the hope that the CIA could win this case. NASA had been pining for Imonoyama's youngest son, and it would be a waste to not use this chance to secure a contract. That was when he met that boy. The event in question was regarding a boy whose status and age should not make him a threat: Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The leader of the Student Council of Namimori Gakuen, one of the three largest branch schools of Clamp Gakuen. This boy looked like your everyday smart and model student boy, not someone the headmaster should bring along in a negotiation ion this scale. He was dead wrong to assume that. The headmaster didn't even bother to put down her fan and let the boy take the reign of the negotiation.

It started with a narrative talk about the said incident from the Council President boy, however he spun the story in such a way that while nothing was omitted, altered or anything, it sounded like the CIA was a villain who tried to bully Clamp Gakuen to pay for their mishap.

There was nothing degrading said to CIA, but the fact remained CIA was not better than a schoolyard bully if they continued their attempt to make Clamp School pay such an unfair compensation.  
>That was the first time George Black learned he could lose in a negotiation, and the boy who taught him that was Sawada Tsunayoshi.<p>

In the first place the Headmaster had trusted the boy to manage a giant school, a boy who was trusted to do a job that even by people twice his age would find difficult. Tsunayoshi was gifted with the ability to easily manage a large number of people efficiently and effectively. Even without hiding his true feelings and intentions, once a person managed to glean the true intentions hidden within their conversations with him, they would be unable take any action except continuing the conversation. Sawada Tsunayoshi was truly an individual who could slyly talk his way through anything. If they were not careful, one would not even know the true conditions were for what they were agreeing to.

But to the Chief of CIA, that was not what had left the greatest impression on him.

"It would be nice… if everyone could just talk everything out instead of raising a gun to each other."

Tsunayoshi whispered when he walked past George Black after the negotiation that ended in Clamp Gakuen's favor. "Then this world would be more beautiful and gentle to us…"

Surprisingly for a boy who could foil almost anyone in negotiation, his wish was so pure.

George Black didn't know he had to be amused or annoyed the moment Tsunayoshi refused to be recruited to CIA, or when the boy somehow managed to get so much blackmail materials on him to get his cooperation instead of the other way around.

Like now for example.

"Yes Mr. Black… I know, I will not ask your… cousin in the FBI to do this favor for me." Tsuna said in an amused tone. "And yes… I owe you one favor, and you can call it anytime I am available for you."

The boy knew there was a not so friendly rivalry between his cousin, James Black from the FBI and him. In fact the boy had been playing ping-pong of favor with them since the first time he met them. Unfortunately it was as clear as the day that Sawada Tsunayoshi liked James more, the kind, stoic, collective agent and a perfect grandfather figure to the young boy

He was a father too but he doubted Tsunayoshi would be impressed if he tried to act fatherly on the boy. He was fine with friend-enemies, give or take relationship they had now.

"Of course… I will get the info of that legendary doctor for you, but the negotiation of course is yours alone." Bookman smirked, "I'd like to see how you get that famed Heaven Canceller to work for you, boy."

To think the boy wanted Heaven Canceller after he fired Trident Shamal, Sawada Tsunayoshi always surprised him. Then again considering Shamal's background, no matter how talented he was, it's better to keep him away from school ground.

He could almost see a nod from the other end, "Yes, of course… have a nice day Bookman."

Tsuna sighed wearily as he ended the line, Kyouya was tapping his foot impatiently. The head of DC was unhappy he had to wait for the call to end, Bookman called in the wrong time for him.

He sighed again, "About Seto Chinatsu…" Kyouya trailed off.

"If she misbehaves the responsibility rests on me, got it."

Kyouya glared at him coldly, his lips pulled to a thin line. This was the closest of Hibari Kyouya to pouting, and it was only years of trained self-control that stopped Tsuna from laughing.

"You granted her entrance to this school, a criminal… an _international_ criminal."

The brunette leaned back on the backrest of his chair with a sigh, "What do you expect me to do? One way or another Reborn would have _made_ a way for her to be in close proximity with my brother, so rather than putting up a fight and risking Reborn taking an undesirable alternative I'd rather make it easier for him."

"Hoo… are you sure it's not for keeping your brother safe?" Kyouya queried coldly.

He raised an eyebrow, "That would mean I'm doubting your security system, Kyouya." He pointed out with a smile. "I would never… this school is the safest place in Namimori, no… the town is safe thanks to you and your committee."

Had Kyouya been a lesser man he'd have been flustered by the flattery spoken so casually and sincerely. Kyouya had known Sawada Tsunayoshi for two years to take a compliment from the president council in stride.

"Of course, it's my duty Kaichou." His eyes narrowed, "Then why?"

Tsuna gave him a melancholy smile, "Because no matter how much I don't want to acknowledge it, I… I can't protect my brother forever."

Back then in Tokyo against Orchestra, he almost failed to protect his brother. Tsuna was reminded that no matter how careful he was, no matter how hard he tried he could still fail.

"… Do you regret it then." Kyouya murmured, "Taking this path?"

He shook his head weakly, "Never… the only thing I regret is the fact that no matter how much I love him, one day I will have to let him go to that dark world…"

"…"

"That's why…" He drawled, "I will watch over him as much as I can as his older brother, and hopefully the moment I have to let him go I can do it with a smile."

That was a lie, and Kyouya knew they both knew it was. As there was no way Sawada Tsunayoshi could let go of his brother to that dark world with sincerity in his heart.

"If you think so." Kyouya began, "Next time, you should try to let him face a danger on his own."

Tsuna opened his mouth to protest.

"You were a herbivore, itwas because of facing danger you grew up… let that brother of yours do the same."

"I know."

He knew but…

He was lost, completely lost as in he had no idea in which part of Namimori he was. On top of that when he took the train from the airport to Namimori he fell asleep, and when he was woken up by the announcer's voice that the train had arrived in Namimori he forgot to take his luggage with him in his haste to alight from the train. It wouldn't be a problem if he reported the problem as soon as possible, but he was too excited to see Namimori that he completely forgot that he had luggage with him.

Thankfully his passport and wallet were in his pocket, but it was really a stride of bad luck.

GROWL… his stomach protested.

He was hungry too; he had forgotten to eat breakfast in his haste to go to Japan. Unfortunately he got lost in a housing area so there were no restaurants as far as he could see. It seemed he was walking in circles since it had been more than an hour but he had passed this public phone three times already. He wanted to ask for directions, but it was 10 AM, most people would be at work and school if not at home for most housewives. There was no one on the street.

Not to mention the sun was pretty unforgiving as Japan was on the peak of its summer. The summer in Italy was worse but he had always kept himself hydrated in that condition.  
>He had left his water bottle inside his luggage. He felt his sight begin to blur as sweat drenched his whole body. He could barely see the black blur from afar. It could be a tree or someone walking with their back facing the sun.<p>

He reached out for the said person to ask for directions but he lost his footing and slumped to the ground. No good… he had promised Oyakata-sama that he'd be fine coming alone and yet…

"Anoo… are you alright?" The approaching figure from before was already right in front of him, and was holding out something to him. "Heatstroke perhaps? Here is some water for…"

For the first time in his life he forgot his manners, snatched the offered water bottle and promptly emptied the content. "Glug! Glug! Ahh…" That was one problem out of the way.

GROWL…

And here comes the next one.

"I was worried that you got heatstroke, but it seems it's another problem entirely…" The kind stranger said with a smile.

He flushed a deep red, looking up to thank the stranger and ask for directions. The word died on his throat the moment he laid his eyes on the stranger's face, a stranger with a face so familiar to him. It took a full minute for his mind to reboot and came up with one conclusion. "Am I in heaven?"

"Eh? No, I don't think so… you're currently in front of my house." The stranger with the familiar face informed him, and as an afterthought added the address of the said house. "Are you lost?"

No, not anymore, the address was a perfect match with the one he was given by his master. "I… I have been looking for this place! Oyakata-sama sent me to come here, my name is Basil." He introduced himself cheerfully. "Pardon me, but could it be… thou art Tsunayoshi-dono?"

"Dono?" The presumed Tsunayoshi-dono echoed, "Well… my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, nice to meet you Basil-kun. Are you a friend of Natsu?"

"Uhm! Yes!"

At last Lady of Luck smiled to Basil.

**Sawada Household **

Basil swallowed his saliva the moment Tsunayoshi-dono put the mouth-watering cold pasta in front of him. He even got a glass of cold green tea to go with it.

"I hope you don't mind that I can only serve something simple." Tsuna said apologetically, "My mother is going shopping at the moment to resupply our ingredients, so we only have leftover salmon salad from last night and I just throw that in together to make this cold pasta."

Basil waved his hand in a negative gesture, "It's fine, itlooks so delicious!" He clasped his hand together, "Itadakimasu!" He dug in and almost moaned the moment the cold dish hit his taste buds. "Hm… it's really good!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Tsuna couldn't help but say.

As he watched the Italian ate, he couldn't help but wonder why Basil was here. The Vongola ring conflict was supposed to be one year from now, there shouldn't be any reason for Basil to be here. Basil undoubtedly didn't have the fake Vongola rings with him, as the Varia would have after him if he did.

There was one more probable reason for Basil to be here though.

Basil munched the last bite of his food and clasped his hands again. "Thanks for the food."

Tsuna just smiled in response, it never failed to make him happy to see people enjoyed his food.

"By the way Tsunayoshi-dono, dost thou know me as Natsu-dono's friend?"

Tsuna blinked at that, "It's just a wild guess to be honest, you're a foreigner, around our age and looking for my house. I just put two and two together, and guessed that you're my brother's friend."

"Ooh…" That sounded like a very simple deduction than what he expected, "By the way, why thou art at home at this hour Tsunayoshi-dono?"

He smiled at that, "I was excused from class for today as I'll have to stay overnight at school to prepare for an event." Tsuna explained. "And I am glad I did, it would be bad for you to keep walking under this heat with an empty stomach."

Basil flushed a deep red, "Uhm… yes…" He stood up and bowed deeply, "I am really grateful, I owe thee my life Tsunayoshi-dono!"

Tsuna sweat-dropped, "There's no need to go that far, and why do you call me with the honorific –dono?" His parallel self had been tempted to ask that for a long time but never got the chance.

"And no offence but while you speak Japanese fluently, your way of speech is a little… old." Around 5 centuries too old, his mind added.

"Oyakata-sama taught me to speak like this, Tsunayoshi-dono." Basil explained with a fond smile, "He said this is how a samurai would speak!" He beamed.

Yes, back in the feudal era they did. "I see…" Inwardly Tsuna was seething that idiot father of his dared to mislead innocent Basil to speak like this. "At any rate please address me as Tsuna or Tsunayoshi instead, calling me –dono sounds awkward to me."

Basil contemplated the request, hesitating before he relented. "Uhm… Tsunayoshi-san then."

That's a little formal but better than –dono, "Well then, if you're done with your meal I will wash the plate."

Basil stood up hastily and picked his plate and utensils, "Oh, there's no need Tsunayoshi-san. I can wash it myself if thou show me the nearest well."

"Well?" Tsuna echoed.

"Or perhaps thou hast prepared a bucket of water on the back?" Basil queried.

Tsuna stared at Basil in confusion, disbelief, and most of all anger towards his wayward father, although the last one was carefully hidden underneath his exterior. "Japan already has indoor plumbing Basil-kun." He informed the misinformed boy with a genial smile. "Just put the plate in the sink and I will wash it for you. It would be improper for me as the host to let a guest wash dishes."

Basil opened his mouth to protest but a certain someone suddenly hopped to the middle of the table, wearing a teapot costume. "Ciaosu." Reborn appeared out of nowhere in a funny costume for the umpteenth time for this week alone.

Tsuna didn't even flinch at the sudden intrusion, and neither did Basil. He was used to it already and he had never seen anyone from Vongola finding this habit of Reborn weird. "Oh, hi Reborn." Or anyone else for that matter.

"Reborn-san!" Basil exclaimed happily, "I am so glad to see thee."

Reborn nodded, "So am I, welcome to Japan and by the way Basil… where's your luggage?"

Basil tensed, "Well… I left it on the train by accident." He admitted timidly. "I still have my passport and wallet but…"

"That's a problem." Reborn grumbled.

Tsuna pulled his phone and dialed a number, two pairs of eyes instantly drawn to him. "That's unfortunate, could you describe how your luggage looks like? And also… around what time did you alight in Namimori?"

Basil nodded, "It's a trunk around this big." He stretched his hand to describe the rough size. "It's dark blue with the silver logo of CEDEF on the right upper corner. I alighted around nine o'clock in the morning."

Tsuna nodded as he waited for someone to pick up the call. "Hello, this is Sawada Tsunayoshi… no problem, it's my pleasure to help Namimori Transportation advance. No… nothing much, I'd like to ask for your assistance, Wakamori-san"

"Could you help me check if there's any report about a medium-sized trunk left behind today? Blue with the CEDEF logo… around two hours ago." Tsuna nodded after a few moments of pause.

"Thank you very much, we will pick it up as soon as possible." He ended the line and turned to face the two Italians. "Someone dropped your trunk on the next station, you can pick it up later."

Basil sighed in relief, "Thanks goodness! I thought I had lost my trunk forever!" He bowed again to Tsuna, "Thank you very much Tsunayoshi-san!"

"You're welcome although it's all the station staff who kept your trunk with them," Tsuna corrected with a wink. "By the way, are you staying at a hotel?"

Basil tilted to the side, "I… don't know."

"You don't know?" Tsuna echoed in confusion.

Reborn hopped to Tsuna's shoulder and tossed him a manila folder. "Everything is already arranged for Basil, please take a look Tsuna."

Tsuna glanced at Reborn and then to the folder, he had an idea of what was inside already. He opened the folder and pulled out a stack of paper, it was Basil's application file to Namimori Gakuen and other necessary files for his enrollment.

"Basil Erbont… " Tsuna read, obviously it was a fake surname.

Basil nodded. "Hai."

"Hm… in here you included a special request to be put in ID class, the same class as Natsu. I can understand you want him to be in the same class as Natsu but… addition of Seto-san, that class is already full."

Basil blinked owlishly, he already knew he was going to be enrolled in the same school as Natsu but…

"Uhm… why did you give my file to Tsunayoshi-dono? Shouldn't you give it to the headmaster, Reborn-san?" He asked curiously.

Instead of Reborn it was Tsuna who answered him.

"I guess that's how it works in a normal school, but since Headmaster is in Tokyo she delegated almost everything to me as President of the Student Council, of course approval of this application will still be forwarded to her but knowing Headmaster she won't bother to read it for a while."

Or not at all, there was a reason she set a very high standard to be part of the student council of her school. She put the highest trust on them to run the school unsupervised for most of the time.

Tsuna paused from his reading, "Erm… why did you call me Tsunayoshi-dono again?"

And why did Reborn got get to be called –san? His alternate self never figured that one out.

"Because someone with a high status like thee deserve to be addressed as such." Basil answered in a determined tone, it seemed this time he'd not agree with changing honorifics.

Tsuna blinked at that, "Eh well, I don't think my position could be considered as high status… but if you prefer to call me that." He replied evenly as he flipped the file he was reading. A special request written on the bottom made him frown.

"Does Basil-kun really have to be in Natsu's class? I understand it will be easier for him to be in the same class with someone he knows, but Natsu's class is full."

Reborn frowned, "Can you add an extra seat for him?"

Tsuna's eyes shifted as he mulled the suggestion over, "Well… if he doesn't mind sitting on the back." He offered, it was only because Spanner moved to Z class that Seto Chinatsu got the last spot in Natsu's class.

"I definitely won't mind as long as I can be in the same class as Natsu-dono!" Basil chirped, "Even if the extra seat is as hard as stone and the table is made of spikes!"

"We will give you a standard seat like everyone else." Tsuna interjected. "And as for your dorm application, I am sure we still have empty rooms but since you came so late… you will get one room that is meant for two people all for yourself."

Sounds wonderfully private, but Basil had to clean up two persons'worth of space.

Basil nodded, "It's fine."

Well, there's no problem admitting Basil in their school. Kyouya won't complain as much as he had with Seto Chinatsu. Basil was arguably saner than most Mafioso.

Natsu had been pleasantly surprised to find his best friend from Italy was the one who answered his 'Tadaima' with 'Okaeri' instead of his mother. Tsuna was downstare preparing for his student council business, which would require him to stay overnight at school. Natsu offered to accompany Basil to the station to take his luggage, and they thanked the nice station staff for keeping Basil's luggage.

Basil was sincerely grateful that because of Tsunayoshi-dono he got to spend his first night in Japan in a comfy futon in Natsuhiko-kun's room instead of the street and he even managed to get his luggage back. Now he could spend the night talking with Natsu and filling each other in about Japan and Italy. Natsu was downstairs taking a bath though, so he had Reborn-san as company.

"It's surprised me." Basil couldn't help but say. "Natsuhiko-kun's older brother… Tsunayoshi-dono looks so alike with Vongola Primo." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I thought I was dead when I saw him."

No wonder Oyakata-sama was so secretive about Tsunayoshi-dono. With a face like that, there was no way he could walk in Italy without Mafioso noticing him.

Reborn gave Basil a long stare, "Even if you're dead, do you think an illustrious leader like Vongola Primo will come to guide you to heaven?"

Basil laughed sheepishly, "Eeeh… that's presumptuous of me." He admitted, "But still… Tsunayoshi-dono is such a beautiful person."

"You too?" Natsu who had just entered the room eyed Basil incredulously, "You're not batting for another team, are you?!"

Basil shook his head frantically, "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Well, my brother is still a pretty boy…"

"You acknowledgethat and yet you're unhappy whenever anyone calls your brother pretty." Reborn pointed out.

Natsu huffed, "It's a fact I can't deny, but anyone who has impure intention towards my brother when they say it…" Natsu trailed off, cracked his knuckles. "I won't have any mercy on them…"

He cackled evilly, and then added as an afterthought. "Of course I will welcome any girls! I don't want to come out as a cockblock for my bro."

"What a complicated brotherly love you and Tsuna share." Reborn couldn't help but commented.

Basil had stars on his eyes as he gazed admiringly at Natsu who was striking a good guy pose. "Sugoi! Natsuhiko-kun!"

"So, Basil." Reborn called out the star struck boy. "What do you mean Tsuna is a beautiful person?"

Basil blinked at that, "Uhm… His looks aside it's mainly the way he acts."

"The way my brother acts?"

He nodded, "When I passed out in front of your house the first thing he did is was offering water to me, and then after that he so naturally helped me again and again."

"Tsuna liked being helpful since forever." Natsu said with a huff. "That part of him has never changed."

Basil shook his head, "That's not how I see it, Tsunayoshi-dono helped me not because he feels obliged or he feels likes it. He is just… well… being helpful because it's in his nature?" He concluded hesitantly.

"I don't get it."

The rain flame user hummed, "Let's see… if you are in a train and sees a granny standing, your stop is still far away, won't you contemplate whether or not to give your seat or wait for someone else to give up the seat?"

Natsu nodded, "If there would be someone whose stop is nearer than me, why not?"

"I don't think Tsunayoshi-dono would even contemplate that before he gives up his seat, in fact he won't even think at all." Basil said thoughtfully.

Reborn nodded, "If you pay attention to your surrounding you will notice no student in your school dares to litter."

"So? DC is crazily devoted in their job, that's enough reason." Natsu pointed out.

"Partly it's because of them but mostly because your brother in his first year as Namimori Gakuen's Kaichou picked up those trashes." **[Trash is an uncountable noun. I think, to refer to lots of trash, perhaps you could say 'those pieces of trash'?]**

"?"

"He didn't scold those who litter or tell them to pick it up… he just pick the trash and put it where it belongs.  
>That tugged their heartstring much better than scolding or warning, no one dared to make their esteemed Kaichou lower himself doing it for them."<p>

Natsu narrowed his eyes, "You know… that makes my brother sounds even more dangerous than if he just scolded them to not litter."

"Well…" Reborn trailed off, "You can say your brother can do a better job in disciplining people than the Disciplinary Committee."

"That's a scary thing you say now Reborn."

Reborn shrugged, "If there's one thing your brother can teach you better than I could, it would be how to grab people's hearts."

"Is that so?" Natsu sounded disinterested by the idea.

_I kid you not Baka-Natsu, that one talent is the reason I find your brother as one of the most dangerous persons I have ever seen in my life. _

Of course Reborn didn't voice it out loud because like any other people with a slow brain, Natsu saw Tsuna as a kind gentle soul who couldn't even harm a fly and loved him very very much. It's partly true, Tsuna loved Natsu with all his heart and would go to extreme lengths to make Natsu happy.

"By the way Natsuhiko-kun." Basil pulled out two books from his bag, "Tsunayoshi-dono gave these to me."

**Daily Conversation in Japanese** and **Japan Society Today **

Natsu blinked owlishly at the two books, "Why?"

"Why don't you ask your father what he has taught Basil about Japanese and Japan in general?" Reborn muttered, "Your brother didn't find it funny, and I suggest you keep the identity of 'Oyakata-sama' a secret."

Natsu and Basil stared at each other.

"Is Oyakata-sama in trouble?"

Reborn shrugged, "He will be, if Tsuna finds out the one who told you that Japanese wash their laundry in the river and by hand at this modern age was Iemitsu."

Natsu stared at Basil in disbelief, "Tou-san told you what?!"

That was the first time Natsu learned his father made unfunny jokes and his sense of humor was screwed. It would be funny had it been anyone else, but when it happened to his best friend, Natsu couldn't find **help** but find it downright embarrassing. Fortunately his brother caught this blunder his father had caused quickly. Basil had almost become the joke of the year.

Elite school or not, he'd rather not riskBasil's reputation.

"At any rate I'm glad Tou-san let you come to Japan."

Natsu changed the topic abruptly. This was one thing he dreaded to ask since he saw his friend in his house.

"Did Tou-san…" He swallowed, "Give you an OK about my request?"

Basil blinked owlishly and then looked down. Natsu was ready to hear a bad news but Basil suddenly beamed at him. "Yes, Oyakata-sama said I will still be part of CEDEF for now but the moment the ceremony begins I will be part of your family! Boss!"

Tsuna could hear the sound of laughter and joy coming from Natsu's room in the hallway, together with family, boss and CEDEF. It seemed Basil was going to be part of Natsu's mafia family. He looked down at the tea and night snack he prepared for the two boys and Reborn. He had perfect timing it seemed.

If it's Basil, he could entrust his brother to the blue-eyed boy.

**Few days later… **

As expected there's no difficulty to Basil to integrate with a new environment, he slipped into his ancient Japanese sometimes but he was doing well in learning to speak normally. Thankfully his slip made people think he was actually a rich boy who was taught to speak formal Japanese, and it was endearing.

Basil gained quite a reputation as Natsu's best friend. Girls love it to see two good looking boys as best friends, and *cough-imagining-it-cough-as-something-more-cough*

Natsu threw quite a tantrum when he heard the girls speculating that Basil was secretly his lover who came from Italy to be with him. Basil had flushed a brilliant red and was flailing around like a headless chicken, and failing to defend their heterosexuality. Chinatsu unexpectedly became their savior, not intentional, or it was intentional but lookedunintentional.

Basil in his panic ran towards Chinatsu who just finished her lunch, and had no way to dodge the panicking boy. Chinatsu was taller and an assassin but Basil in spite of his frail look was stronger and in an adrenaline rush so the result was pretty obvious when the boy crashed into her.

Like in an ecchi anime the boy and the girl ended up in a compromising situation, in which Basil was accidentally crushed on Chinatsu's bosoms. Basil's nosebleed was enough proof for his heterosexuality much to the fujoshi society's disappointment. Natsu had not so discreetly asked about 'how it feels' also saved his masculinity.

However unlike innocent Basil, Natsu was not spared from the wrath of the female population in his class for being a pervert. It's still up to debate that Natsu asked Basil to erase the suspicious in his sexuality, or he was purely curious as a hormonal teenager.

Kyouya was unhappy with the rising noise level and chaos in Natsu's class. Class ID now held the title as the noisiest class in Namimori Gakuen, courtesy of the budding Vongola famiglia in its midst.

In fact Tsuna was a little jealous since his class was… uhm, a little too proper and prim as II Z housed the most talented batch of students. Then again he and the rest of the student council spent most of their school time in their office, and with Kyouya around you didn't get to be rowdy or noisy.

It didn't stop Haru and Hayato from arguing over the budget in every single event they held in school. Or other arguments, most were about their school.

That was the only one noisiness Kyouya could tolerate, as it was for the good of Namimori Gakuen.

"GAH! REBORN! STOP IT!" Natsu yelled helplessly as he ranwith three heavy sacks of sand and Reborn standing on top of one of them.

"That's three extra laps for you." Reborn said gleefully as he whipped his Leon-whip to the air.

On the sideline Natsu's classmates, Mitsu couldn't resist commenting. "There's still a few months until Christmas! Do your best Rudolf-san!"

The PE teacher let Natsu have his own training, they had odd numbers so even if Natsu joined their tennis class he didn't get anyone to pair with left.

Somehow just like in the other world, Reborn managed to worm his way into the faculty members. No teacher questioned his constant presence, it was as if Reborn had become a regular fixture in Namimori Gakuen since forever.

It's been only one and half months since Natsu and Reborn arrived in Namimori.

Tsuna couldn't help but smile as he watched Natsu's PE class from afar. Hopefully these peaceful days could last.

"Heh." Tsuna let out a chuckle, "I wish it could last forever…"

As Murphy's Law stated, it did not. On the way back to school the first sign of trouble appeared before him.

"Here, you must be thirsty." A beautiful red-haired woman was riding a bicycle, and she was pretty familiar. She tossed him a can of soda with a smile on her lips.

If he didn't know the dream had stopped long ago, he'd think it was a re-chap. "Thank you." He returned the _generosity_ with a genial smile.

As the sound of the bicycle's bell faded and the red head was assured out of sight and earshot, Tsuna sighed wearily.

"Again."

Once again his face made him be mistaken as the heir of Vongola. He didn't know he should be happy Natsu was spared from Bianchi's assassination attempt or saddened he was not spared from mafia problems because of his face.

He sighed again and pocketed the poisoned can of soda to be researched by the Namimori Medical Department, just in case Bianchi managed to poison Natsu.

Hayato was going to be furious if he heard Bianchi hads arrived in Namimori. It's not like Hayato hated Bianchi. The problem was Bianchi had tried to kill him, a mistake or not Hayato wouldn't be happy with Bianchi for sure.

"Midori~ Tanabiku…"

Good timing as always, then again Hibari assigned one or two of his flock to patrol the city so it's not weird to find them around. Especially near his house and other council members'.

He whistled the same tune, a signal for the little bird to come to him.

"Kaichou~ konichiwaaaa…" Hibird no 07 according to its chocker sang as a greeting for Tsuna.

He smiled in return, "Konichiwa Hina-chan." He'd use his phone but to Hibari who trusted the Hibird Network than cell phones, this was better. "Code SB."

"Code SB." Hina, Hibird number 7 parroted. "Code SB! Hai~ Alert! Alert!"

As Hina flew away, Tsuna tucked the stray hair behind his ears.

"Now then…"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed an email for the staff from the Medical Department to send people to pick the poison sample up from a locker in a nearby station along with the number and code to access it. He walked to the station and contemplated how he had to deal with Hayato's sister. After he locked the rented locker he checked his watch and decided to go home to face the next assassination attempt. Reborn would correct Bianchi later when she came to their house anyway.

**Twenty minutes later… **

"You met a red-haired foreigner who gave you a can of soda?" Natsu summarized his story in an incredulous tone.

Tsuna nodded, well aware Reborn was scowling in the background. Good to know Reborn already got the problem. It was one thing if Bianchi tried to poison Natsu, and an entirely different problem if she tried to poison Tsuna.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a civilian and not supposed to be involved.

"Yes, but I felt she was a little off so I threw the soda can away." Tsuna said with a shrug.

Not a lie as he did throw it to that locker.

He was carelessly displaying his hyper intuition in front of Reborn. If anything Reborn finding it out was more of an advantage than a crutch, as he could blame it all to his gut instinct whenever he did something suspicious.

Natsu smirked, elbowing Tsuna's side jokingly. "Oh come on… I am sure she was just a babe looking for bishonen."

"On a bike?"

"Kinda weird, but hey… who knows she is a supporter for Go Green and riding a bicycle as part of the Campaign?" Natsu suggested.

he was polluting the air ten times a car would in one year with her poison cooking. She was anything but a Go Green supporter.

TING TONG

Bianchi? SIt almost took all his strength to not run down and greet Bianchi and her poisonous pizza himself, but Kyouya's words echoed on his mind.

**_"Itwas because of facing danger you grew up…  
>let that brother of yours do the same."<em>**

"I need to do revision, answer the door Natsu." He forced his voice to stay calm and his logical part reminded him that if Dame-Tsuna could survive Bianchi, Natsu could do better. "I will be upstairs."

"Haaai…" Natsu stood up from his seat with a lazy reply.

When Natsu was about to exit his room Tsuna swallowed. "Natsu."

"Hm."

"Call me if you need me." Tsuna offered as he walked to the door across Natsu's room. "Okay?"

Natsu shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

There was a ruckus a moment later from downstairs and Tsuna struggled to stay still in his chair, and until Bianchi's presence disappeared Natsu didn't call him at all. He frettedtoo much, there's no way Reborn would let Natsu to be killed by his ex-lover.

If this was how he actedwhen Natsu was facing danger head on with Reborn around, he didn't know how he could stay still when Natsu faced something worse. Bianchi was one of the mildest dangers his parallel self had ever faced. Thanks god there would be no Kokuyo incident, Mukuro had jokingly offered it much to Kyouya's ire.

And there's Xanxus.

He had prepared precaution for Varia and ring conflict, but still…

"It's pointless to fret over something that will happen next year, now…" He tapped his forefinger against the book he was reading. "What should we do with Bianchi…"

**The next day 10:30PM (second period) **

Natsu's class was having a home economics class, which meant the girls were cooking. Tsuna didn't know if deities above were laughing that Natsu's class had such a convenient timetable for Bianchi to sneak in.

In the other world Bianchi's infiltration to Namimori-chuu could be laughed off as comical.

However it's another matter entirely when you see it as a professional hitwoman infiltrating Namimori Gakuen to kill one of their students. Not to mention the method was poisoning, and Bianchi's cooking was not dangerous only for those who ateit, the fumes could kill.

That was a disaster with a capital D.

So instead of spending his time in class, listening to teacher like a role model student he was supposed to be. Tsuna was in the surveillance room of their school, surrounded by screens and electronic devices.

"No sign of target in Area H02." Kusakabe reported.

"Area M05, all clear." Another DC members reported.

Hayato who stood by his side scowled, "I have never imagined we're going to arrest my sister of all people."

"I am sorry Hayato."

"Don't be, it's so messed up… my sister is trying to kill your brother." Hayato looked very embarrassed by the whole ordeal. "Now that I am the vice-president who is responsible for the whole school's wellbeing, I can't help but seehow stupid her love plan is."

Back then when they had the dream, it was hilarious but in reality it was not.

"Aha ha…" There's no humor in Takeshi's laugh.

"She infiltrates a school full of children carrying poisonous cooking that could kill with its fumes!" Hayato hissed, "Stupid Bianchi!"

Tsuna sighed, "Hayato… Bianchi is a mafia woman, she is an assassin." Of course he didn't have to tell Hayato this, the silver-haired boy knew better. "She makes money out of it, so she doesn't find it weird at all to kill people she dislikes as she please."

Casualties were the least of her concern. A messed up logic, but that's how mafia rolls.

"Namimori has a different set of rules." Kyouya who stood in the corner of the room said. "No matter who it is, those who break our rules shall be bitten to death."

Hayato narrowed his eyes at Kyouya, "We agreed on me to be the one who stops Bianchi."

"Hn."

"Kyouya." Tsuna called him out in a warning tone and the prefect tensed a little. "Let Hayato protect our students from Bianchi for today."

**"Are your sure Hayato-nii is enough?" **Lambo's voice echoed through the matching earpieces they were wearing.

On one of the screens, which displayed an art workshop Lambo was in the middle of painting something abstract.

**"He should be." **This time it was Shouichi's voice, on the screen he was writing down a copy of what teacher was writing on the white board.

**"We need to be discreet, if there's more than one of us walking around when it's studying period people will notice…" **Nagi muttered, she was doing the same thing as Shouichi in her class.

Tsuna shrugged, "Thanks for the dummy, Nagi…"

**"I don't recommend using my illusion to skip class, Kaichou." **Nagi reminded them jokingly.

**"Why can't I go with you guys?" **Lambo whined, jabbing his brush with a huff.

Tsuna sighed, "Lambo… that piece you're working on is due next week, today is already Friday."

Lambo growled, looking at the giant canvas before him. It was three times his height in width and one and half in height. Two thirds of it was still in base color.

**"Grr… Can I just do this James Pollock's style?"**

"Are you James Pollock?" Hayato asked coolly.

**"No." **

**"**Then don't." Hayato scoffed, "The theme of the Summer Art Exhibition is 'Passion of Summer' and… Pollock is not exactly sunny."

**"Unlike me!" **Ryohei chirped, he was standing on a pedestal in the same workshop as Lambo. **"By the way if Lambo is painting abstract why am I here?" **

**"Well… you're sunny and passionate." **Lambo offered lamely. **"You're a good inspiration… Ryohei-nii"**

What he was painting lookednothing like Ryohei but the color kind of lookedlike Ryohei's aura, sunny and fiery.

**"EXTREME!"**

**NGIIIIIIIIIING **as one all student council winced.

"Ryohei! Mind your volume when speaking to us! You're yelling right to our ears!" Hayato gritted out.

**"I'M EXTREMELY SORRY!" **

"Arrgh! I told you!"

As they were holding their ears in pain no one noticed a red-haired woman melting the outer wall that separated Namimori Gakuen's yard and the street.  
>However one of Hibird's flock members did.<p>

**"Alert! Alert!" **It sang, "**Intruder! Intruder!" **

Hayato ran out of the room at top speed the moment Hibird number 05 "Higou" alarmed them of Bianchi's presence. But before he was out of the room he had time to yell, "Idiot turf top! We almost missed Bianchi because of yooooooou!"

"I will bite you to death." Kyouya growled, pissed beyond words that Ryohei almost burst his eardrums.

Tsuna shook his head exasperatedly, "Commence operation, target's destination… kitchen of building B Middle School Division."

**"Hai, Kaichou." **

"As briefed beforehand, direct contact with target is prohibited for all of you except for Vice President Gokudera." Tsuna recited, "I repeat, direct contact is prohibited."

**"Hai, Kaichou." **

Takeshi craned his neck to the side, "Well then Tsuna… hopefully Hayato can catch up with his sister before she gets to the kitchen."

"He will."

"Of course."

**Middle School Division (Garden) **

It was strange how her path was always blocked, and even disguising herself as a student didn't work.

"Sorry miss… this road is closed, we're preparing it for the Summer Festival."

"I see… I will just take another path." Bianchi said in a bored tone.

There was a sign that the lift was under repair, both of them.

"Woah, use another stair!" A member of music club called out when Bianchi was about to go up using the same stairs they used. "We're moving heavy instruments down, it's dangerous! Move!"

Bianchi scowled, "Fine."

**BOOM**

"The whole hallway stinks because someone mixed the wrong chemicals." A teacher in lab coat said, covering his nose with a handkerchief. "Please don't walk around here until we clean up this mess."

"Yes, sensei." Bianchi gritted out.

She had enough! Time for plan B, and screw incognito! With that in mind Bianchi pulled out her climbing equipment and climbed the outer wall from the second floor to the fourth floor where the home ec class was. She threw the claw-like hook and score! She got it hooked to an open window of the fourth floor. With a determined look on her face to get to her target, she began to climb. It was not difficult for an athletic woman like her, she still remembered how Reborn could do this five times better than she could.

She was about to reach out for the opened window's frame, but faster than she could react a strong hand caught hers in an iron grip.

"What the… let go!"

One hand caught and another holding the rope, Bianchi had no way to defend herself when she was sprayed with sleeping gas and her eyes fluttered. She wiggled around, trying to fight off the sleepiness. The last thing she saw was a blur of silver and the deep voice of a boy.

A voice she last heard last year by phone, but she couldn't forget it.

"I have captured our target, condition: unconscious, casualty: none."

"Ha… ya… to…" She murmured as her eyes fluttered shut and she knew no more.

**Class ID **

Even though Bianchi was arrested (kind of) it didn't save Natsu from the predicament of tasting horrible food. Chinatsu had the cover of a frail and gentle sick girl down pat, so even though she disliked it she gave her rice ball to Natsu and Basil to fit the image. They were her closest male friends after all.

The rice ball looked normal enough, albeit it's not a perfect round or triangle but acceptable in aesthetic. However Chinatsu's choice of filling was unique.

"Yikes! There's chocolate paste inside this!" Natsu spat the chocolate that was mixed with vinegar rice, earning him a glare from Chinatsu.

Basil sniffed, "Hic hic… my tongue has gone numb." His had wasabi on it.

"Shut up." She hissed, "Just eat and give me a compliment if you don't want to blow my cover!" She said in a low voice.

Natsu whimpered under her glare. He had been spoiled by his brother's and mother's cooking and she expected him to compliment this shit?!

While Natsu was blissfully ignorant he had been saved from something worse, the Student Council of Namimori Gakuen secured his would-be assassin swiftly. And Reborn wondered why Bianchi had not come yet to try to kill Natsu again.

When Bianchi opened her eyes, she found herself laying on a couch and staring at a plain white ceiling. She quickly sat up in shock as she recalled what happened to her before the black out. Someone sprayed sleeping gas on her!

"You're awake." A masculine voice said.

Bianchi's eyes widened when she saw the speaker, she had not seen the boy for years but she couldn't forget the face of her half-brother. "Hayato! You… are alive."

After the complete loss of contact she thought he had died, apparently he was very much alive.

"I am." He said curtly.

She tensed when she noticed he didn't turn green or froth at the sight of her face.

"I am not an impostor if that's what you think." Hayato grumbled, "I am still sick of your face, but it seems as long as my eye focus is not on your face I can function perfectly without frothing."

Bianchi turned her face away, she felt guilty for making her brother sick of her face. When Hayato was frothing or raving she could laugh his fainting habit around her as hilarious but when he saidit in such a serious tone, itwasno longer a laughing matter.

"Hayato." She smiled sadly, "It's been a while… brother."

Hayato adjusted his glasses and sighed. "Yes, it's been a while."

She noted his hairstyle wasn't looking like Shamal's anymore. He grew it out and tied it in a low ponytail. "I am so glad to see you again."

"I am not." Bianchi flinched guiltily, "You infiltrated my school and tried to poison one of our students. What's your excuse?"

"… I… I want to take Reborn back to Italy." She confessed. "But Nonno assigned him to teach Vongola Decimo so I…"

Hayato snorted, "So you decided if Vongola's _last_ heir died, Reborn would be left alone and come back to you instead of punished for failing his mission."

Bianchi tensed, her eyes were wide in shock.

"Sawada Natsuhiko is _the onl_y heir Vongola has left, don't you think his death will do wonders to Reborn's _unblemished_ record?" He asked sarcastically, "Smooth, Aneki… really smooth."

The red-haired Italian clenched her fist, ashamed of her ignorance of what would become of Reborn if Sawada Natsuhiko died. It was not like she was stupid but in her eyes Reborn was an omnipotent being that to him the death of the future boss won't affect him at all. Reborn was an exception to a lot of things, failing his mission however was not one of them. He had never failed, and Bianchi had never imagined he could. However what she was trying to do was the same as trying to fail Reborn, and that was…

Unacceptable!

"What should I do now? Apologize to that Natsu-brat?" Bianchi asked in a miserable tone.

Hayato blinked, he had never seen Bianchi so distraught. Bianchi in this world at least, as he had seen it in the other world when Reborn died.

"Well… it's a start."

If Bianchi wanted to make amends with Kaichou's younger brother, who was he to stop her? That was a fast improvement from trying to kill him.

"Hm…"

Hayato didn't have a good look of her face but judging from her mumbling, she was trying to think up a plan to get on Natsu's good side. He could imagine Bianchi worming her way again to the Sawada family with acting as another tutor for Natsu. Unfortunately they needed her to stay away a little longer.

"You see Aneki… Kaichou told me that Decimo's favorite dish in summer is Eel cuisine." Hayato said in an even voice, "And I believe it's Reborn's favorite too… and it's the perfect dish in this heat of summer."

It was not a lie, as Tsuna did tell Hayato that Natsu loved Unagi. Reborn he recalled from parallel memories had made Bianchi go in search of eel for the same reason.

Bianchi as expected perked up at the suggestion, "Really? My… I should go as soon as possible to Hamana Lake!"

Actually Bianchi didn't have to go all the way there as even in Namimori they had some eel from there. But Hayato won't tell his sister that.

"Rather than the commonly known Hamana Lake…" Hayato trailed off, "According to my trusted source, there's a sighting of a dragon in Iwate prefecture." He informed the eager sister of his in a sly tone, showing her a picture of a snake-like creature hidden in heavy mist. "But you see sister, I know this is actually a rare giant eel… the best ingredient for the greatest hitman like Reborn-san."

Bianchi nodded in agreement with sparkling eyes, and Hayato couldn't help but wonder if his sister was ever this gullible. Then again it's Reborn, his sister thought the sun rose to shine in Reborn's glory.

"Tell me where I can find this dragon eel." Bianchi demanded impatiently.

And just like that Bianchi mirrored her parallel counterpart in search of eel for her beloved Reborn. The difference? She went somewhere twice the distance from Namimori to Hamane Lake, she won't be back for a _long_ while.

Hayato bid Bianchi a goodbye as she sped up with her trusted bicycle to the direction of the setting sun, and a _very small_ part of his heart felt guilty for fooling his sister. Then again he didn't really send her to a goose chase, he knew that legendary eel existed and he pointed her right to the right direction.

That UMA magazine was trustworthy, no matter what Takeshi and Lambo said about it.

"Hayato." Tsuna called out when Bianchi was nothing more than a dot in the distance. "I can't believe you really sent her to catch a giant eel of all things."

They had discussed this, but Hayato really pulled it off.

The Vice-president shrugged, "It works, and that eel exists so I didn't lie to her."

"But Hayato." This time it was Takeshi who spoke. "That mysterious snake-like creature is actually a giant eel is _your_ theory, and that UMA magazine is 70% bullshit and 30% misunderstanding."

"It exists." He insisted.

"Hayato…" Tsuna and Takeshi sweat-dropped.

"By the way… where did she gether uniform from?" Hayato wondered out loud. "I forgot to ask her to return it."

Tsuna sighed, "Oh well… I have to ask Nagi to fetch one quickly from storage for Chinatsu then. Knowing that temperamental girl, she will raise a fuss that someone stole her spare uniform from her locker."

And Kyouya would be pissed, they had averted one disaster and had no wish to welcome another from their very own cloud.

His hyper intuition didn't alarm him yet, but Tsuna was already fretting for his Cloud's temper. Tsuna at that time was too relieved Bianchi didn't poison anyone in their school. He had completely forgotten of a certain mafia boss who was even clumsier than his Dame counterpart and very good at making his Cloud's temper sky high.

Well, our Kaichou was not the all-knowing almighty so we should forgive this one mishap in his part. That was what Hayato and the rest of the student council assured him later.

**Narita Airport (A week later) **

Dino Cavallone took a deep breath, as if the air in Japan was any different with his homeland. Perhaps it would be different outside, but in an air-conditioned space like this it's the same. Too bad Reborn called him to greet his fellow 'tortured soul' read: 'Reborn's student'in summer, if it's spring he will be able to see Sakura.

"Here I come Japan! Dino Cavallone is here." He muttered with a grin, his subordinates, Romario and Marc stood a few feet behind him.

The rest of his subordinates were around, hidden in plain sight. He thought it would be better if they didn't come in group, dressed as typical mafia suit. At least not until they arrived in the Sawada household.

**"We're so proud to see representatives of Clamp School in spite of their young age participating in strengthening our relationship with Country B."**

Dino glanced at the wall on his left, they were broadcasting two Japanese boys shaking hands with a foreigner in business suit.

"Ooh… so young." The blond boy and brunette boy couldn't be older than fifteen, and yet they're handling such a big contract.

Romario shrugged, "I even heard of this academy from Japan, they're really active in campaigning their young talents."

"Clamp Gakuen…" Dino murmured, "My little brother is schooled in the same school, right?"

"Not exactly Boss, according to Reborn-san's email it's Namimori Gakuen… a branch school of Clamp Gakuen."

"Oh…" Dino hummed, "A fitting school for a future mafia boss to make connections I see…"

**"And here we have the representative of Namimori Gakuen, Sawada Tsunayoshi… this admirable young man will begin his speech to us  
>who are present to witness this historical moment for Japan's next generation.<strong>

Dino blinked owlishly as the brunette Japanese walked to the podium and the camera zoomed in to his face. A very familiar face wasseen in Vongola famiglia's gallery hall.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

"**It's an honor to represent our school and Japan as a whole to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between our countries." **Sawada Tsunayoshi said in accentless English with a gentle smile on his lips, his soft voice echoed through the conference hall. **"In order to protect their research facility, the director of VRI entrusted us…**

The three Mafioso stared at the screen, the speech fell on deaf ears.

"Wow." Dino's mouth opened in perfect O shape, "Isn't that my fellow poor so… I mean disciple?"

"I thought Reborn-san said his name is Natsu?"

"Na-Tsu-Na-Tsu…" Dino laughed, "I probably misheard Reborn or something!" He said cheerfully, pointing at the screen. "Just look at his face, he looks eerily alike with his ancestor albeit his hair is brown and he has glasses on."

Romario adjusted his glasses, "Really? I thought Reborn-san said he is almost as helpless as you used to be, not as clumsy but loudmouthed and brash?" He listed on what Reborn told them. "This Tsunayoshi boy looks nothing like that."

Marc nodded in agreement, "He looks… uhm… like a studious and composed boy."

"Don't you think Reborn-san would never let his student appear in an International broadcast like this?" Romario added, "A mafia boss is supposed to be a secretive figure, and this is anything but that."

Dino frowned, "True… this is the very opposite of what a future boss should do."

Sawada Tsunayoshi was putting himself on a pedestal; a figure the public was familiar with. Reborn would never let his student do this. So why did this boy dare to flaunt himself like this? "Boss." Romario's voice snapped him out of his thought. "Isn't that…"

Dino followed Romario's index finger, his eyes widened when he saw a brunette boy who had just walked out an opposite hallway for an international flight. The boy donned a light grey trench coat, with dark orange rimming. Inside the coat the boy was wearing a white shirt and orange tie. The attire stood out because it was unusual for a boy in his early teens to wear such formal attire in Narita airport. He was also dragging a small luggage along. His attire aside, his posture was also drawing attention, straight back, even steps and a regal air. Instead of walking it was more fitting to say he was gliding.

"So that's… " Marc trailed off.

Dino nodded, a grin on his face. "The son of Vongola's young lion and the sole heir of the Vongola famiglia." Dino craned his neck. "I am going to say hi to my brother in arms!" He exclaimed as he ran towards the presumed Vongola heir.

Tsuna from afar shuddered suddenly and quickened his pace, almost half running towards the immigration checkpoint, not so blissfully unaware of Dino on his heels.

And that's the start of the first memorable first encounter between Sawada Tsunayoshi and Dino Cavallone, which started with another round of misunderstanding and misinformation. Just another normal day in his life as Kaichou, with mafia thrown in the mix.

**λ...λ  
>(ºvº)<br>( iREVIEWi )  
>\iREVi  
>\mm  
>l : : l<br>\::/**


	11. 10th Axis

**As promised, an update before the end of the year... Why today? Well... it's my birthday so I should give you guys a present, doubling as early X-mas present too XDDD Don't ask how old though, I am 4ever 21.  
><strong>

**SO everyone, cheers for me... or rotten tomato to the stage~****Whichever you prefer, I KNOW the last update is... holy! It's 31st Jan! Now it's freaking DECEMBER! UHM! SO Merry Christmast and Happy New Year? Can't say sorry because well... it's getting OLD, I am not going to drop this story and I will promise nothing about how often I will update from now on... because this story gets to the level where I CAN'T work on scheduled deadline. Especially the timeline indicator for this story is how many guardians Natsu have so far... TWO, so... we have a LONG WAY TO GO **

**Anyway... the show is on so enjoy the show ;)**

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Courage is about learning how to function despite the fear, to put aside your instincts to run or give in completely to the anger born from fear. Courage is about using your brain and your heart when every cell of your body is screaming at your to fight or flee - and then following through on what you believe is the right thing to do.<em>**"  
><span>by Jim Butcher<span>

**PAST: Between Flight and Fight **

A man dressed in a school uniform that was definitely not meant for him. He was old, with black-tinted glasses and was wearing a school uniform that belied his age. Tsuna's parallel memory flashed before his eyes, and he could almost hear the maniacal smile, the insane euphoria this man expressed at the sight of pain and despair. This scene of this man reveling on their despair as clawed hands closed over his precious friends…

It was out of reflex that when the man reached out for him Tsuna lashed out, and the man cried in agony as his hands and sleeves were burned in brilliant sky flames.

**"Argh!" **

Tsuna was snapped out of his daze, "Ah!"

"Flames… " Nokoru who was standing not far from him gasped in shock. "How…"

Tsuna clenched his fist, _'Disappear! Please…' _He breathed out a sigh of relief when the flame that was burning Bird's hand vanished. It was thanks to his teacher that he managed to have some control over his flame. He winced as he felt slight pain on his hands, _'No good… I still can't use my flame without harming myself.' _

"Kaichou!" Tsuna didn't resist when Hayato cradled his hands between his. "Aah… where did I put the Vaseline." He wondered as he rummaged his pocket for the lotion.

"Hayato!" Tsuna yelled when he saw Bird charging towards them with a knife. Just right on time, Hibari burst from a random bush and proceeded to jump Bird. "Hibari-san?"

Bird screeched like a banshee when he saw Hibari and ran as if he was chased by a devil. A devil was pale in comparison of Hibari in hunting mode though. Tsuna was stunned to see Hibari chasing Bird like a starving beast; he had never seen Hibari this enthusiastic in chasing his prey. He wondered why, Bird was a scum but this fervor almost rivaled one Hibari had on chasing Mukuro.

The chase ended shortly as Hibari pinned the old Mafioso on the ground, "Hand over Hibird."

Hayato growled, left eye twitching. "That's the reason you chased him like mad?" He wanted to get a pet?

Bird was cowed, "What are you…"

Hibari smirked and with a clean swipe of his tonfa, Bird lost at least three teeth. The bird tamer was twitching wildly before he fainted and his eyes went white. Then he glanced to the right side and that was when they noticed there was a flock of identical yellow birds, and Hibari was standing on top of their master to show off his superiority.

"Hn."

One of the yellow birds flew towards him and perched on his shoulder. "Hello." It sang.

Hibari smirked at the yellow bird, "I am Hibari… and from now on, you and your flock are my partners to protect Namimori."

"Hibari…" The bird parroted, "Protect Namimori!"

Tsuna rubbed his eyes in disbelief, "Hibari-san, I am sorry to interrupt your reunion but…"

"Kaichou." Hibari turned to him with a serious expression, "From now on Hibird and his flock shall be the official mascot of Namimori school, so about their expenses…"

"Whatever!" Tsuna snapped, "I will write a proposal for that later if you want, Hibari-san!" Looking at Hibari's steely and hungry eyes Tsuna could guess what he was up to next, even without hyper intuition, "As long as you behave… stop fighting, and can we go home already?" Tsuna pleaded.

Hibari looked like he was about to protest as he still wanted to fight but…

_'He is seriously contemplating it.'_ Tsuna sweat-dropped.

Nokoru looked like he wanted to pump Tsuna for information because so far there were so many things that didn't make sense to him. However in the end this was not the place for that. "Tsuna-senpai, who is that?"

"Hibari-san, the head of the disciplinary committee of my school." Tsuna informed Nokoru seriously. "He is not a dangerous person as long as you're a law-abiding citizen."

Tsuna was well aware he was failing spectacularly in convincing Nokoru that Hibari was not a dangerous person. Especially since he could hear sounds of pained yelps and anguish in the background. "At any rate… I think we should run now." Nokoru reminded him. "They're still chasing us, remember."

At that the Namimori group stopped in their tracks, the Hibird and Hibari fiasco almost made them forget about Casablanca and her goons. They were promptly reminded by Casablanca herself who was charging at their direction, on an impressive looking motorbike and dressed in black leather overall. "I will get you brats!" She was followed by a group of subordinates, riding the same big motorbike and leather overall.

Hayato retorted, "You're mafia or motor gang?!"

Tsuna eyed the biker group with trepidation, "Everyone! Scatter!" Tsuna grabbed Nokoru as they began to run; after all they were Casablanca's main target. So logically they had to distract Casablanca from their friends. "Run as fast as you can Nokoru-kun!"

Nokoru nodded, "Yes!"

* * *

><p><strong>Five minutes later… <strong>

It was a good thing Hibari created so much chaos so the surveillance system of Casablanca's base was in disarray and judging by how disorganized they were, most of the security cameras were smashed by their fight. Nokoru and Tsuna were young and small enough so they had plenty of hiding places in Casablanca's vast –more like a forest but who cares-garden.

Incidentally Irie was with them, and the red-haired boy refused to leave them because according to him, he'd rather be with them who had a target painted on their backs than with their violent friends. Tsuna promptly pointed out that Suoh-kun and Nagi-chan were pretty reasonable with their violence, Takeshi was out of the suggestion because the baseball prodigy was prone with going overboard lately.

Irie vehemently refused.

So Tsuna and Nokoru relented to share the tree they used as a hiding place with Irie.

"Are your hands alright?" Nokoru asked worriedly, eyeing Tsuna's bandaged hand. It was hastily done with using the leftover of the emergency parachute they used before.

Tsuna clenched and unclenched his hand experimentally, "It's fine, Nokoru-kun… so, now… what should we do?" He wondered.

"At any rate…" Nokoru trailed off, "We can't play hide and seek with them forever."

Tsuna nodded in agreement as he watched another pillar of smoke erupted in the distance. "I can't let Hibari-san and the rest going too rowdy with their rampant destruction." According to Irie, this place was a pretty secluded part of Tokyo but it was not secluded enough, as someone would notice so many explosions going off in bright daylight.

"Can we just call the authorities?" Irie suggested timidly, then wisely clamped his mouth shut at the look of horror that crossed Tsuna's face. "Oh…"

Nokoru glanced at Tsuna, "So… if possible you want to keep this quiet, Sawada-senpai?"

Tsuna nodded, there was no point in hiding it from Nokoru anyway. Besides, Nokoru was trustworthy, his heart and intuition said so. "If we involve them, the chances of the information of my abduction leaking is big…"

"Vongola?" Nokoru guessed.

At this point there was really nothing he could hide from Nokoru, "Yes… I am a _spare_ though, I am supposed to know nothing about the dark side of my ancestry… and I don't want to be involved either but this happened…" He shook his head morosely. "I never expected that I would look so alike with the first boss of Vongola… and how someone would make a connection just from that." Tsuna bit his bottom lip.

A spare, so he was not the first in the line of succession? Nokoru narrowed his eyes at that. "Well… I have to agree it's for the best for us to not involve the police, besides…" At this point it would be a blood bath, so far the mafia side didn't actively try to kill them because strong or not they were kids and Casablanca wanted Nokoru and Tsuna alive. It would be different if the police was involved and their main priorities would shift, risking their safety.

The last thing they wanted was this to be an all-out war. The solution to this mess was pretty simple; just escape from Casablanca as fast as they could. Nokoru believed that as long as they could escape now, Casablanca would think twice to try again. However…

He glanced at Tsuna, for this person there was no guarantee he was going to be safe after this. He was a spare, so there was no telling how much protection Vongola afforded for him. Judging from Tsuna's distaste to be involved with the Mafia, most likely none. Nokoru was pretty familiar how a powerful family that was not Imonoyama worked, a spare was precious when they were not a spare anymore but until then they were dispensable.

Tsuna seemed to be pretty lucky to be ignored so far but his luck was up because of his face of all things. Nokoru wanted to do something for him, simply because it was mostly Nokoru's fault for Tsuna to get into this mess. This was why he kept people at arm's length.

"I spend too much time with Hibari-san." Tsuna moaned, snapping Nokoru out of his depressing thought. "Just now I thought we just had to round all of them up and get Hibari-san, Sasagawa-senpai and Hayato to give them head trauma…" So they would forget ever meeting Tsuna and co.

Irie looked at Tsuna fearfully, "Uhm…"

"Apparently sadism runs through my blood…" Tsuna deadpanned with a sigh. "Oh well… " He turned to Nokoru. "You and Suoh-kun just need to run away from here, my friends and I need to settle things properly with Casablanca though…"

Nokoru shook his head, "Maybe, but I don't think I can sleep at night if I leave you and your friends here… I don't think Suoh would be willing to leave his cousin here either." He crossed his arms, "So, Sawada-senpai… how do you want to settle this with Casablanca?"

Tsuna titled his head to the side, "Well… even if we run away now, there's no guarantee that she won't give up on us." He began thoughtfully, "So… we should think of a way to make Casablanca either lose interest in us or…"

"Or… " Nokoru echoed.

"Or… we make her unable to chase us ever again." Tsuna said with a smirk. "Ne… Irie-kun, I need your help."

If Nokoru didn't believe that Tsuna had mafia blood running through his body, now the blond was positive that almost evil smile was inherited from his mafia ancestor.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile in another part of the forest… <strong>

"Roger Kaichou!" Nagi chirped as she typed a reply to Irie's email address.

In the background Hibari was busy with knocking Casablanca's subordinates off of their bikes, and Nagi politely ignoring his longing look at the bike. No doubt the prefect recalled the memory of riding it when he was older, with the current length of his limbs that was impossible. So he went to continue slaughtering them, much to her exasperation.

Nagi had enough, "Hibari-saaaaaan… Kaichou sent us an order, can you come over here for a sec?" She glanced to the side. "Suoh-kun too…"

"Yes…" Suoh answered her, "What do you need? Katou-senpai?"

Hibari was not as cooperative, "Hn."

Nagi wondered what Hibari wanted to convey with that petulant glare, "Remember…" Nagi trailed off, "Kaichou is still considering that budget for new band for your committee… and also other budget you _really_ want him to pass through."

Hibari glared harder at her and said, "What does Kaichou wants?"

* * *

><p><strong>And another different part… <strong>

As it was a group formed by Hayato, Takeshi and Ryohei they were very agreeable when Hayato received an email from Tsuna. Although they had a slight delay because Hayato was treating his phone as some sort of Holy Grail for a moment when he saw the email.

"Kaichou needs us now." Hayato growled at the two airheads he was unfortunate to be stuck with temporarily, "Don't fail him."

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Tsuna and co <strong>

It was a brilliant idea, Nokoru admitted and one he would come up with himself if he was in Tsuna's position. Stuck in a difficult situation did wonders to your mind. However Nokoru didn't expect that beneath his cunning façade Tsuna was a righteous person so he was rightfully trembling in fear of himself for suggesting such a thing. Apparently Tsuna was pretty concerned with the morality and legality of his action, even though he would resort to it if he had to.

_'He is pretty lucky that he is a spare.' _Nokoru mused, before his eyes drifted to Tsuna's face. _'Or not with that face…' _

Tsuna was still freaking out, and considering they didn't have to move yet, Nokoru supposed he had the right to freak now rather than later. "You know Sawada-senpai…" Nokoru trailed off, "Suggesting that kind of idea is not going to make you a criminal."

"Bu… but…" Tsuna's fingers interlaced as if he was praying, and trembling. "I am thinking like a criminal already… you see… it's not about status or…" Now he was rambling.

And to think this person descended from a family line of Mafia… "Are you sure you're alright with this? We can just… run, and I promise my family and I will help you." That was the least he could offer to Tsuna for dragging the older boy into this mess. Sure, Tsuna had his own circumstances but it was because Casablanca wanted to recruit him that Tsuna was involved.

"Let me freak out for a while." Tsuna pleaded. "I will feel better afterward."

"Heh?"

Tsuna clenched his fist, "I am getting pretty angry now…"

For some reason Irie Shouichi was hugging the tree tighter and he refused to look at Tsuna in the eye. "Hiie…" And he was whimpering.

Tsuna was smiling even though his tone belied his expression, "They kidnapped us, and now we can't even escape from them peacefully… that Casablanca lady was borderline molesting us to boot."

Nokoru opened his mouth to defend Casablanca, kidnapper or not Casablanca was a lady thus he had a duty to defend her honor. "Sawada-senpai…"

"Ne, Irie-kun…" Tsuna glanced at the cowering red head, "Is everyone ready?"

"Hai!" The future inventor squeaked.

* * *

><p><strong>Few minutes later… <strong>

BOOM!

BOOM!

It was very rare for Tsuna to appreciate his friend's talent in destruction, and those rare moments didn't stop him from attempting to get their destructive tendency in line, or at least direct it to an appropriate use like now…

BOOM!

Another explosion.

ARGH!

Scream of agony again.

"I am a civilian and yet I am getting used to ignoring those…" Tsuna lamented as he ran as fast as he could to Casablanca's mansion. It was mostly empty because all of their forces were focusing on Hibari and co.

Irie shot him a pitying look, "I understand Tsunayoshi-kun…"

Tsuna glanced at him and then at the direction of a rising smoke pillar, "I hope Nokoru-kun will be fine…" They were forced to make Nokoru stay with the distraction group as, if both he and Nokoru-the target- were missing at the same time Casablanca would suspect something. He had to lead the infiltration group as they had no layout of the mansion and relied on his intuition to guide them.

Nagi smiled at him, "They will do their best to protect him."

"Of course." Tsuna beamed at her. "So now… it's our job to make sure our plan succeeds."

Casablanca's mansion was right ahead and now he had to decide from where they had to enter. Tsuna glanced to their surroundings, and he could feel human presence inside the mansion. Not a lot of people but they didn't want to alert anyone if possible. He looked around, making sure this place was a blind spot of their security system before he signaled his friends to follow him. There was a camera here but he was sure the staffs in the surveillance room were occupied with a series of explosions in their front lawn to notice three kids sneaking in from their rear.

Then the moment they got inside the mansion, it was Irie's turn to disable their surveillance system. According to Irie, disabling them was fairly easy as long as you know what to look. It helped that the last thing Casablanca would suspect was for them to return to her manor willingly, they wouldn't think to look for them here. So the moment they made it inside, it was arguably safe to look around as they pleased.

Now… they just had to get to a certain place.

* * *

><p><strong>On the road to Tokyo <strong>

"I have to say…" Innocenti hated to admit it but, "There was no way we could get there in time." He said forlornly as he looked at the seemingly endless line of cars in front of him.

Rin gritted her teeth, "It's frustrating but the kids are on their own this time."

Innocenti nodded, at a time like this he regretted refraining himself from purchasing a helicopter or a small jet because it attracted attention. He was going to make sure to purchase every type of transportation as soon as possible, even a submarine just in case.

"But I believe in them, in Tsunayoshi-kun…"

Tsuna was a trouble magnet, but Innocenti had taught the boy as much as he could on how to get himself out of it. He had done his best for that but still… he would exchange a limb to grow wings now so he could be there for them. "What I wouldn't give in exchange of a jet…"

Rin snorted then blinked owlishly when she noticed a giant shadow looming over them, she would have dismissed it as a cloud blocking the sunlight but she was pretty sure no cloud had such a smooth outline. Clouds also didn't make people point at the sky. The perfume user opened the car window and craned her neck out to look up and gaped in shock.

"Uhm, brother… do you know anyone who has a jet in Tokyo?" She asked hesitantly.

Innocenti huffed, "I don't, and if I had an acquaintance like that I would have begged them to lend it to me by now."

"Are you sure?" Rin asked again as she saw a rope ladder unroll, she swore that the end of it would land in front of their car and it did.

This time even Innocenti was wide-eyed and followed his sister's example, "What the? There is a woman in kimono there!" And she was hanging on the ladder as the jet lowered down.

"Good afternoon~" She greeted them, bowing elegantly. "I am Imonoyama Reika, and I am afraid my son is in trouble… along with your kids."

Innocenti gaped, freaking _IMONOYAMA? _The multibillionaire family?

Rin looked back and forth between Innocenti and the Imonoyama matriarch, "Well… it sounds just like Tsuna to get stuck with the unlikeliest people."

The scientist took a deep breath, he had a lot of question but… "First of all, can we get out of this traffic first? Imonoyama-san?" he would take his chance now.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Nokoru and co<strong>

At the rate they were going, Nokoru was sure he was in danger not from Casablanca but losing his hearing from the myriad of explosions and screaming. Gokudera-san apparently was fully prepared to face a full armed Mafioso, and he kindly informed them that he had the area rigged with explosives that would react to the residue of gunpowder.

Gokudera Hayato was not an explosive expert for nothing, as the moment an idiot Mafioso tested that threat he promptly got an explosion on his face. Obviously by that time it was the start of chaos he had never seen before, considering Nokoru was an Imonoyama that was something.

"Senpai, are you alright?" Suoh asked from his right.

Nokoru wondered since when Suoh stuck so close to him, while he was the target the other didn't stick as close as Suoh did. "Aside from my ears feeling a little funny, I am alright." He assured the younger boy.

Suoh's eyes roamed to their surrounding which could be summarized to one word, chaos. "We have distracted them for a while."

"By now I am sure Sawada-senpai is doing his best to finish his task." Nokoru said with a grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Tsuna and co<strong>

It was a cliché route to move around inside the manor through the air duct, and considering it was pretty common in fiction Tsuna thought the mafia would wise up to block it or something but they didn't. So there was nothing to stop Tsuna and his friends from getting to their CCTV terminal and cutting the cable, and just like that their surveillance system was down. So now Tsuna, Nagi and Irie were moving to their next destination undetected.

Casablanca's office, which predictably was located on the top floor. After the panic that was caused by their surveillance system, the mafia would rush to the basement where the terminal was located. No one would even be concerned about the security of their boss's office, especially when the said boss was out chasing kids. It also helped that Casablanca was an arrogant criminal, the door from her office used retina, fingerprint and body shape scan but she didn't bother to install any security system on the window of her office. Learning from Hayato, Nagi used her circus trained body to reach the window from the room next door and cut the glass to unlock the window.

From there it was a piece of cake because the alarm wouldn't go off if the door was opened from the inside, and Casablanca's personal computer was Irie's to mess with as he pleased. The password lock didn't stand a chance, as Irie's deft fingers started to crack them open.

"Hoo…" Irie browsed the business files that were stored inside. "For a mafia, their business is pretty clean…"

Tsuna frowned at that, "Really? Because so far they didn't give me that kind of impression."

"But on the side, I found a lot of traces of them using shady connections to expand their business." Irie added. "And…"

Tsuna swore Irie was in danger of drooling at the vast amount of data before his eyes. "Irie-kun."

"Their technology is amazing! No wonder they wanted Imonoyama-kun! They're in the middle of a breakthrough that…"

The rest was some sort of technology babble Tsuna didn't get at all, after this was over Tsuna was sure Hayato and Innocenti would be glad to find another person who could talk in their language. Thankfully in the middle of his fanboying Irie's fingers didn't stop working and he finished his task regardless. Taking the blackmail material and hacking their company's computer system to place some viruses when they were at it. Judging from Casablanca's rambling and Irie's discovery, her company didn't work fulltime underground. Which means this company of hers was as susceptible to media and blackmail as any other legal company.

Hopefully what they got was enough to get Casablanca out of their life. If not Irie assured him that red head had ways around computers and worse comes to worst he could hack their bank account to bankruptcy overnight. It almost scared Tsuna how resourceful Irie was at this age in how to get rid of your enemy bloodlessly. Then again Irie's counterpart was the smartest Mafioso in history, and Vongola's strategist.

"Ugh…" Irie rubbed his stomach, "I am getting too excited and my gastric…"

Although even in this world he still had a weak stomach.

They got what they wanted from here and it was time to get the hell out. Everything was going as he planned, but Tsuna couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He looked around them as they ran through the corridor, not bothering to move stealthily and so far… That line of thought stopped him dead in his tracks and his companions stopped walking after they outran him by five steps.

"Ne, Irie-kun, Nagi-chan..." Tsuna began with a pale face. "Why's it so quiet here?"

Nagi tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Uhm… I think I still can hear the ruckus our friends make in the distance."

Irie nodded in agreement, "Well yeah but according to our prediction."

"By now no matter how stupid they are, they would have noticed the presence of intruders…" Tsuna murmured with no small amount of shock, and then he pointed at a lone camera on the ceiling. "In fact they didn't even fix the dead terminal…" It didn't even move an inch, and Irie was sure it was the type with motion sensors.

The red head swallowed as dread pooled within his mind. "That's odd… no matter how incompetent they are, they should have noticed we cut the terminal off and replaced it by now…"

Nagi wrapped her arms around Tsuna's, "Kaichou… we have to leave now." She and Irie didn't need hyper intuition to tell something was going horribly wrong here. "Please… I am getting nervous…"

Tsuna nodded in agreement, it was not just him whose instinct was screaming to get out of this place. "Yes…" Something dangerous was going on here and, "Let's go! This way!" And they ran as fast as they could to get out of the manor.

They ran and ran but they couldn't bring themselves to keep going when the strong smell of blood and burned flesh hit their nostrils. Nagi trembled in shock as her trauma from circus hell resurfaced, Irie was gagging because of the sickening smell and mental image that hit him. It took all his control to not follow their example, Tsuna opened the nearest window and spotted a branch just within arm's reach. He was not sure if it was strong enough to hold their weight but he was sure they could survive falling from the third floor but not staying there.

He pulled his friends up, "Guys! Get a hold of yourself! We have to get out of here now!"

Nagi was the first to regain her bearings and quickly climbed up to the branch, she was the lightest and the most experienced in high places due to her occupation. It didn't take long for her to reach the bark of the tree and it was Irie's turn to climb.

"This is scary!" Irie stammered as he struggled to ignore the vibration the branch made under his weight.

Tsuna groaned, "Irie-kun…" He was holding Irie's hand and the other boy was supposed to let go and jump to get a hold on the bark but Irie was too scared to let go. "Let go of my hand already! Go!"

"But!"

CRACK!

**"Eh?" **

* * *

><p><strong>With Innocenti and co<br>**

The jet was small but because they were flying in the middle of Tokyo, he supposed it was suitable. The inside was pretty lavish though and Innocenti bet the cost at least had nine zeroes.

When asked how did Imonoyama Reika track them down, she started from the recording of cctv on her son's kidnapping. "So… you tracked down Nagi-chan's call to my number then you tracked my GPS signal?" Innocenti asked incredulously to the matriarch of the Imonoyama family. "Isn't that illegal?" He asked just for the heck of it.

She shrugged, "Going through a legal channel is too slow, this is not the first time someone is after my son and frankly since he made his genius known to the world… there is no kidnapping attempt on my son for ransom." She said pointedly, "If I stay idle my son would be out of this country before I can say banzai."

Rin winced, "I see… so if your son is kidnapped there is no chance his kidnappers will return him."

"Correct." Imonoyama Reika murmured, "And to assure my son's full cooperation it seems they took your protégé as well."

That was the most likely scenario.

"But perhaps…" The matriarch trailed off and Innocenti winced, "There is another reason for them to keep him too, after all the boy is the protégé of Professor Innocenti… a well-known underground scientist."

One word echoed through Innocenti and Rin's mind, _Busted _

"But it's none of my business…" The Japanese woman said with a smile, "Our main concern now is our children's safety."

They agreed with her, everything else could wait for later.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile… <strong>

When the branch broke, Tsuna expected the worse and regretting not learning how to fly yet. Luckily the branch didn't break off clean and the remaining swung them towards the bark. Tsuna was not lucky enough because his hands were full so nothing was stopping him and Irie to crash, face first on the hard wood.

"Kaichou?" Nagi called them worriedly, "Irie-kun? Are you alright?"

Tsuna rubbed his nose, thankful it was not broken considering how hard he crashed it. "Mostly fine." His voice muffled as he rubbed his reddening nose, his red-haired friend was doing the same.

"It's hurt…" Irie complained as he followed Tsuna and Nagi climbing down the tree. As they reached the ground Irie rummaged his pocket, sighing in relief that the USB containing the data they were working hard for was still inside.

Tsuna bit his lower lip when he noticed Irie's relieved face. He hoped they still needed it… but… He clenched his fist, shuddering as a phantom chill shot up to his spine. This was worse than when they were rescuing Nagi! Tsuna rubbed his arms, as if it could help the cold but he was not feeling any warmer.

"Kaichou!"

Nagi's shout snapped him out of his thought and he turned at the magician girl bewilderedly, "Yes, Nagi-chan?"

It was Irie who answered instead of Nagi who once again latched on his arm for comfort. "Uhm… it's getting quieter, it's been a while since the last explosion we heard… did Gokudera-kun run out?"

Tsuna paled and started running without a word, Nagi and Irie followed closely behind him. "Kaichou! Is there something wrong?"

"Yes!" Tsuna gritted out as they sped up their pace, "Hayato never ever runs out of explosive! I would worry if he stops exploding things when I told him to keep it up until we return!"

That didn't sound good, as anything that stopped Hayato from exploding things, and when he was under Tsuna's order to boot was definitely a sign of trouble with a capital T. Fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, something exploded and it was like a signboard that their friends were in that direction. Tsuna also realized this explosion was bigger than usual, not the usual Hayato's knock you out in soot kind of explosion.

They were in trouble.

Tsuna and his two companions rushed to the scene, he almost stumbled when he saw his friends standing in a clearing, none of them were injured save small bruises and dirt on their person. He was so relieved they were alright that he almost missed that none of them acknowledged his entrance. He couldn't fault them at all when their eyes were locked to the horrible scene of carnage in front of them.

It was a pond of blood, with corpses of men in black suits scattered across the scarlet liquid. It was like something out of hell itself. Tsuna spotted Irie gagging and vomiting from the corner of his eyes, and he was tempted to do the same if not for Nagi who was hanging to his arm. Her grip tightened and it was almost painful but he let them. Hayato managed to stay calm and he was trying to calm Takeshi and Ryohei down. They were shaken pretty badly as they were not familiar with death. Suoh was having trouble himself, but he was holding a trembling Nokoru so it must be for the sake of the blond that Suoh composed himself even though he was not faring well either. Hibari looked the calmest but Tsuna could tell even Hibari was nervous at the sight of so much blood and death, and a nervous Hibari was not a good news.

His intuition was screaming at him to get his friends out of that place but in the middle of that pool of blood, he saw something white that caught his attention… No, it was a person, a boy. For the first time since he awakened his Vongola blood, Tsuna defied his intuition and stepped closer.

One step

Two steps

Five…

Ten…

He was hypnotized by an unknown force, something that drew him to this thing… no, it was a person, a boy with hair as white as snow, with skin almost as pale, and his body was wrapped in a white straitjacket. The unknown white boy turned around to face him, and Tsuna stepped back when he saw that an almost manic grin painted the boy's face.

"You're…" Tsuna gasped.

He couldn't move as arms wrapped in the wide sleeves of a straitjacket wrapped around his body, and his friends started screaming his name. He lost his balance and his back hit the blood-soaked ground with a splash. His vision was clouded with white and amused amber eyes that mirrored his.

**"Byakuran?"**

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Charisma has three points. The nature of a hero or prophet, the ability to simply make you feel good when you're around them, and the intelligence to eloquently talk about all sorts of things."<em>**

Joji-Saiga -Psycho pass

**PRESENT: C**_**ampa Cavallo! **  
><em>

The first thing Dino planned for his soon to be surrogate brother was to give the brat a little scare, nothing serious of course. As Reborn's disciple a little shock was harmless and waking up with a gun pointed at your head was just their everyday meal. So with that in mind Dino sneakily followed the brunette boy to the pickup point by the exit of the arrival hall. He walked a few steps behind the Vongola heir but strangely when he tried to close their distance, the boy increased his pace and Dino struggled to walk naturally without breaking into a full sprint to chase the boy.

When they reached the pickup point at last the boy slowed down so he pulled out the toy gun he prepared beforehand. However he didn't expect instead of scaring the boy he was the one who got shocked out of his wits when something hard collided with his gun, and it was knocked out of his hand to the air.

The next thing he knew, a black blur knocked him off of his feet and a bunch of teenage boys in gakuran and pompadour hair pinned him to the floor. He could push them off of him but he had a feeling his joke had been misunderstood and taken seriously. He quickly signaled his men to stay put, they hesitated but obeyed him. Dino looked up and found twin amber orbs observing him unnervingly. Nothing like Reborn's unnerving dark eyes, but it had a similar feel that made him feel judged even for the barest flinch.

Then Dino noticed beside the amber-eyed boy was a dark-haired teen, a few inches taller than the Vongola heir with steel-colored eyes that were glaring at him with the intensity of a thousand suns. It was as if the dark-haired boy had a grudge against him or something.

"Kyouya." The Vongola heir chastised his friend. "Mind your temper and put your tonfa down."

"Hn." The newly revealed Kyouya grunted.

His attention was quickly drawn to the amber-eyed boy when the brunette picked up the toy gun and pointed it at him. "Hello there, I have to say while I am not unfamiliar with this kind of thing but this is the first time…" He trailed off and fired the toy gun that sprouted ribbons and confetti like a party cracker. "Someone tried to get me with a toy gun."

Dino smiled sheepishly as the boy helped him to stand. "It's just a joke..."

A tonfa breezed pass his face and then he felt a slight pain on his nose, and the tonfa-wielding teen glared at him heatedly. Apparently Kyouya didn't appreciate Dino playing a joke on the Vongola heir. "I will bite you to death."

"**Kyouya."** Dino was startled to hear such an authoritative voice coming from the petite boy, and even more surprised his attacker backed down in an instant. "It would save us all if you didn't make a joke that could get you in trouble." He chastised before he diminished his guards.

As there was no better time to state his business Dino introduced himself. "I am Dino Cavallone."

"Cavallone-san right? I am Sawada Tsunayoshi… may I know why an Italian horse breeder that our equestrian club is closely associated with trying to ambush me with a toy?" There was no sarcasm or mockery in his voice, but Dino could tell Tsunayoshi was curious and amused.

"Eh?" But why would the first thing that popped up when Dino introduced himself as a Cavallone be their horse breeding business? Shouldn't Tsunayoshi have thought of the Cavallone famiglia that was closely associated with Vongola instead? "Um yes, I am the owner of Cavallone Breeder but… didn't Reborn say anything about my family?"

Tsunayoshi had this eureka look on his face before he beamed, "Oh… are you a friend of Reborn's? He is my brother's tutor… perhaps you are also a friend of Natsu's?"

Brother? Natsu?

It felt like something clicked in his mind but just to make sure, Dino asked. "So, you're not Reborn's student?"

"No." Tsunayoshi answered a little too quickly, "Natsu is."

Dino inwardly patted himself on the back as he found out that he almost spilled mafia business in front of a civilian. Then again it was unthinkable that Sawada Iemitsu had a civilian son while another was the heir. Looking at Tsunayoshi's face, Dino had to wonder if this boy was not Iemitsu's son instead of a clone of Primo.

Dino shook his head inwardly at the mental image, "Would you like me to give you a ride home?" He offered.

Tsuna smiled at that. "My apologies, but I..."

Kyouya glared heatedly at Dino and the blond stepped back. One of the pompadour-haired teen closed in and said, "Kaichou, we need to get back to school soon... the head of Sumeragi is already waiting with Irie."

He gave the taller teen a tired look, "I see… well, we better get going then…" Then he turned to Dino. "Well then Cavallone-san, at this moment my house is empty because Natsu is in school and my mother is on vacation with her friends." He rummaged his pocket then pulled out a key, "This is my house key, in case you come when Natsu is not at home yet."

Dino blinked owlishly, as he accepted the key. He didn't expect Tsuna to be so trusting. "Err… thank you…"

"Reborn already informed me that he was waiting for a guest today." Tsuna added, recalling Reborn who, for who knows why, informed him that they were going to have a guest in a few days. He didn't know who was it though, but Dino was definitely the one he expected. "Cavallone-san, please pardon my rudeness just now." He apologized with a guilty look on his face, which made Dino feel bad for trying to prank the boy. "Especially for Kyouya." The boy had distanced himself from Tsuna and Dino, but he was still glaring at Dino heatedly. "He has a hair trigger temper, and is too protective." He mused. "So he can't take any joke that compromises my safety."

That was pretty obvious, Dino thought. "It's my fault too, but I am looking forward to fix this not so impressive first impression I made."

Tsuna smiled gently at him, which caught Dino off guard as he had seen the boy smiling in amusement and smug expression but not gentle. "It's fine Dino-san, in fact I am sure this ranked in the top ten of interesting first impressions I have ever got."

For some reason that embarrassed Dino even more than his failed prank.

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Gakuen's ground<strong>

He already had this argument too many times to count and Tsuna wondered when these peoples would get the point. "Sumeragi-sama… we have discussed this."

"And you still say no." Sumeragi Kaguya, who from her frail look you won't wouldn't guess she was a highly respected lady in military. "Why not?"

Tsuna resisted his urge to facepalm, "It's a toy." Tsuna intoned, "Amada-san created it as a toy, it will remain as such and not be used as a missile head."

She huffed, "Military can put the technology she created for a much better use rather than using it for a mass produced dog toy."

"It's our policy that inventions created by our students shall only be used for its original purpose, regardless of a better use as you claimed… if the inventor don't doesn't allow that other purpose, you're not allowed!"

"Then let me speak with the girl~" She said lightly.

Tsuna's eyes hardened at that, there was a reason why he became their spokesperson. It was because the majority of students under Irie's department had trouble dealing with authorities, especially those with money. They were easily troubled by the prospect of losing potential sponsors, and threats worked easily on them too.

"Amada-san has expressed strongly that she has no wish for her invention to be used as a weapon…"

This was just another routine of his, fending off power hungry people from misusing their talented students. Usually the headmaster would deal with them, but as long as it stayed civil inside their office the student council was delegated by Headmaster to handle it.

"Fine~ Fine! Sawada-kun, just so you know after I get back my superior will chew me out for this." Sumeragi Kaguya huffed.

Tsuna was sorely tempted to point out that as the heir of Sumeragi Group, and the sole heiress of the clan it was very unlikely she would get chewed out. She was her own boss after all.

"Thank you very much for your understanding." Tsuna muttered, bowing respectfully as he escorted Lady Sumeragi out of his office.

This kind of argument went on pretty quick but Tsuna was always exhausted afterward, especially when dealing with someone like Sumeragi Kaguya or John Black. Not to mention since Natsu's return to Japan, it started a chain of events he had to deal with. Now he had Dino to deal with, and Tsuna was worried. You would think it was easier to deal with Dino, as his counterpart's memory revealed Dino wouldn't endanger anyone on purpose like Bianchi. The worst they had to deal with was property damage caused by his clumsiness.

However he had a bad feeling since he returned from the airport, and he didn't like it. The problem with his hyper intuition was, no matter how strong it was he could never predict where the trouble would come from. He still had to figure it out by himself, and in this case Dino could be the source of trouble (being a mafia boss required you to be one) or nothing to do with him at all. He disliked it when he was worried, and yet he had no idea of what he had to be worried about.

Whatever it was, he had to be prepared. So now… what should he do in case of… Tsuna thought as he took a sip of his tea absentmindedly.

"Kaichou." Shouichi's voice snapped him out of his thought.

"Hm?"

"Why you're drinking sugar with tea instead of the other way around?" The red-haired queried.

In an instant Tsuna realized the overly sweet taste that had just invaded his taste buds, and the tea he was drinking had a dune of sugar even higher than the tea's surface. He spat the tea and quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth.

"Cough! Cough!" Tsuna coughed violently.

Hayato and Shouichi sighed; silently thanking the privacy of their office that no one could see their president when he was in one of his trances. If there was one thing they didn't want the public to see, it was Tsuna's habit to go on a trance while doing everything auto-pilot with disastrous results also known as temporarily in Dame-mode.

Hayato went to his side and poured him a glass of water to wash the sweet taste, "Here."

Tsuna gulped down the water slowly, "Thank you Hayato."

The silver-haired teen crossed his arms, "How many times have we told you, that you should sit down and don't try to multitask when you are concerned about something."

Tsuna laughed nervously, "Lots…"

Usually Tsuna had no problem with multitasking; his position demanded him to be able to multitask to be efficient. However when he was deep in thought, usually it ended in disaster.

"By the way this document needs to be reprinted." Shoichi waved the two inches stack of papers he just finished, "You used the wrong stamp."

"Aah…" Tsuna moaned, as he poured himself another cup of tea using a new cup. "I did it again."

Hayato looked at him skeptically, "It can't be just Bronco Horse's arrival that's worrying you, what's wrong Kaichou?"

Tsuna shook his head, "Nothing's wrong, I am just a little tired from my trip… jetlag perhaps."

Shouichi snorted, "Sure… nothing's wrong, and you're going to add a third spoon of sugar on your tea." He pointed out. Tsuna usually preferred one and a half spoons of sugar for his tea.

Tsuna quickly put the sugar back, "Ha ha ha… maybe I am indeed a little concerned about something…"

Shouchi and Hayato inwardly corrected Tsuna's 'concerned' with 'mild panic' at least if Tsuna almost repeated his mistake. If there was one bad trait Tsuna shared with his counterpart, it was his proneness to panic. However unlike his counterpart who would outright go to a panic frenzy, Tsuna would look calm outside but not inside.

Mukuro depicted it as Tsuna looking as serene as a priest in the middle of preaching but inside he was running around like a headless chicken. Mukuro once called it as Tsuna in his tranquil panic. You would wonder how someone could be in panic and tranquil in the same time, but Tsuna somehow managed to be both.

"But shouldn't Cavallone arguably not be a danger to us?" Shouichi queried.

Hayato snorted, "Well… when his subordinates are not around he was more dangerous to himself." Then he added, "We can worry about material damage too I guess."

He sighed wearily, "That's not what I am worried about, it's just the usual… my hyper intuition is sensing something I don't know what."

"I see... " Hayato closed his eyes, contemplating his decision. "Then you're in no condition to work, would you like me to cancel all appointments for today?" Tsuna gaped at him, but Hayato didn't wait for his answer. "Of course you do." Hayato fished out his phone.

"But Hayato!"

"It's decided."

Tsuna pouted, "What happen to our democracy of youth?" He asked indignantly.

"If you want to put it on vote, I am sure the whole school will be in favor of giving you some rest when you can't think straight." He retorted smoothly.

Tsuna stared at Hayato in disbelief, and then to Shouichi in hope that the red head would side with him. "I am sorry Kaichou, but I have to agree with Hayato in this." The mechanic said in an apologetic tone, "We all know how you are when worries addle your mind."

The irony was Tsuna could trounce his panic and worries when they were in immediate danger. First was because he prioritized their safety above everything, and second was the combination of instinct and his hyper intuition that pushed him to act and strategize instead of fretting. However when that danger was not present, and he had time to stop and think about it… Tsuna would think, think and think, he would start worrying, and then his paranoia level would shoot up through the roof.

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada's Residence<strong>

Dino was subjected to the comfortable routine of Reborn punishing him when the arcobaleno found out that he almost slipped in front of Tsuna. The Arcobaleno was displeased he had been so careless and made it painfully known with introducing his hammer to Dino's head. The Cavallone boss could do nothing but accept the punishment like the honorable man he was.

Tsuna had given him the Sawada family's address, a spare key and apologized that he had to return to school and was unable to escort Dino to his home. Dino wondered if there was any fourteen-years-old boy as busy as Tsunayoshi, and it was school business to boot. Boys his age usually were not _that_ eager about school.

"Speaking of Tsunayoshi… are you sure it's alright for the brother of the Vongola heir to be _that_ exposed to the public?" Dino asked, he had done a brief research on the way to Sawada's residence on Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Much to his shock while the boy was not a celebrity outside of his school and this little town, Sawada Tsunayoshi from what he could gather from online research was a familiar diplomatic figure. He was not someone you would right away recognize on the street, but he was pretty famous in his chosen fields, which were literature, philosophy and International relations.

Reborn gave him a deadpan look, "What do you think I can do about it?"

Dino never imagined hearing that _sentence_ from Reborn, to hear his almighty tutor expressing incapability to do something. "Eh…"

"I heard that Dino." The Cavallone boss sputtered as he could tell Reborn was talking about what he said mentally, about how shocking to hear almighty Reborn couldn't do something. "I will excuse your impudence for now." Dino gulped, "Tsuna is already too deep, he is too well known for Vongola to do anything about his fame. He also has the attention of important figures around the world… for example Imonoyama Reika, the Sumeragis, John Black from CIA and James Black from FBI..."

Dino flinched at the last two names, "How the hell could he get in contact with them?"

"I asked." Reborn grumbled, "But Tsuna just laughed and said it's confidential…"

"And you didn't press him further about it?" Dino asked in disbelief.

Reborn shook his head, "That boy… he may be a civilian but the same blood as Nonno and Iemitsu run through his body, he has awakened his hyper intuition." Thus the boy had natural inclination to sort what he should and should not tell Reborn.

Dino's eyes widened at that, "But he is…"

"Never trained for it?" Reborn continued, "The fact remains Tsuna somehow manage to awaken his bloodline, and I dare to say his hyper intuition is the strongest I have ever seen among the Vongola family."

He had met Nonno's sons, Iemitsu and Natsu but Tsunayoshi was special. The fact the boy was uneducated and untrained about his heritage if anything pronounced his hyper intuition. He didn't question his intuition, but acted on it with admirable calculation. Which was surprising considering the boy was a logic-oriented person.

"Then why…" Why not Tsunayoshi but Natsuhiko?

"Because Natsuhiko is the son Iemitsu put forward for the candidacy." Reborn answered with a grunt. "Besides even if Iemitsu started to sing a different tune in regards of his oldest son, Tsuna is already out of Vongola's reach."

Dino nodded in agreement, "Yeah… that boy is connected to too many dangerous figures to be a mafia boss." Dangerous figures to the mafia's secrecy, in fact Dino was not even sure it was wise to keep someone like that around the heir of Vongola. "How did he get this much attention and Vongola never noticed it?"

Reborn huffed, "Because that bastard Iemitsu insisted to keep his civilian wife and son out of the mafia radar, in fact not even _I_ knew of Tsunayoshi's existence before I was sent here." Dino's eyes widened at that, there were so few things going in Vongola Mafia Reborn was not privy to know. "Besides… Tsunayoshi seems to dislike Iemitsu."

Dino blinked at that, "Why?" Iemitsu was an okay guy as far as he knew; in fact Dino could see him as a much better father than his with that goofy personality.

There were so many whys that not even Reborn could think where to start from, "He has been a missing father to him for years, and he sent this kind of postcards to boot." Reborn explained shortly, pulling out postcards of the South Pole, Sealand, the moon and other impossible places. "His wife could eat it up, but do you think a boy like Tsuna will?"

Dino only knew the boy less than an hour but even he could tell Tsuna was a logical type, he wouldn't buy Iemitsu's excuse. Maybe not suspecting his father was a mafia right away but it was pretty obvious Iemitsu was a suspicious individual with a questionable job.

"A postcard arrived recently from Iemitsu… this time from somewhere in Middle East… around the seashore of Aral Sea I think, Maman gushed over it and Tsuna just smiled… as soon as his mother's back was turned…" He trailed off, "He was writing an email that I suspect someone who could check whether Iemitsu really was there recently…"

"Isn't that a pretty rural place so it's hard to check who has been there?" There was a reason why until today illegal immigrants were still rampant.

Reborn shrugged, "That boy could get both John Black and James Black in business with him, it's not going to surprise me if he can pull it off." Dino gulped, "Which means Tsuna probably knew his father was bluffing for years?"

"It's no wonder why he doesn't like Iemitsu, don't you think?" Reborn mused, "I don't think he knew about the mafia yet, since he didn't confront Natsu at all about it."

Reborn hoped that was the case, which was likely since someone like Tsuna wouldn't keep such a thing quiet. He was a civilian that was an acquaintance with the leaders of CIA and FBI, there was no way he could wave off his father and brother in mafia and acted normally around them. There was no reason for that.

Reborn was rarely wrong, but this time he was.

Tsuna had plenty of reasons to act as if he had no mafia relatives.

* * *

><p>Since he was back to Japan, his days had been eventful, some bad and some good. Dealing with the student council members that were not his brother had been mostly bad though, with exceptions of the girls, majority of the boys seemed to have some sort of grudge against him. Gokudera Hayato beat him up, stomped on his dignity and refused his invitation to his famiglia. Hibari Kyouya threatened to bite him. Irie Shouichi talked him down and stomped on his dignity like his fellow Vice-prez did. That Lambo brat for who knows why kept glaring at him as if he had murdered his puppy.<p>

Yamamoto was an okay guy, then again he seemed to be incapable of hating anyone. Sasagawa seemed to be too extreme to dislike him.

In short Natsu learned to stay out of the way from his brother's friends; in hope as long as he left them alone they would do the same courtesy. He had no wish to be summoned again to their private area and treated like a world-class criminal, judged and then sentenced. Even though technically he was a criminal, he didn't want that kind of experience yet or ever.

However for some reason after a full day of successfully avoiding the student council, or rather just a pissed off Hibari Kyouya. Natsu found a blond Italian guy who introduced himself as the tenth boss of the Cavallone in his room, sitting on a comfortable leather chair as if he owned the room, and then the blond bastard began to mercilessly insult him.

"No aura, no elegance and definitely no brain for sure… you seem to be the type of guy who acts before he thinks." The Cavallone said in an amused voice.

"You also smell bad." Reborn added for the heck of it.

"The way you present yourself is also bad, it screams I have a lot of confidence but it's all talk and I have little to back it up." He continued with a sigh.

Reborn chimed in, "You look unlucky too."

How was that relevant? Natsu thought.

"You're also openly freaking out at the sight of me, no sense of anticipation." Dino drawled on, "In conclusion, your disposition as a boss is zero." He said, openly smirking at Natsu.

Natsu trembled in fury and then yelled, "We just met and you're already an ass with me?! I don't care who you are, but insulting me is a wonderful start of our alliance!"

Dino snorted, "I am just telling you the truth that your disposition as a leader is ze…"

"Good afternoon." A cheerful voice greeted the occupants of the room.

"ro…" Dino finished as he went rigid at the sight of the older twin standing beside the door since who knows when.

Natsu couldn't help but think that it had been a while since Tsuna appeared out of nowhere from behind, and greeted you politely with his charming smile as if he didn't just scare the shit out of you. Natsu didn't like it when Tsuna did that; but when it was Dino who was shocked out of his wits by this stunt, Natsu sadistically enjoyed it.

"Hi Tsuna!" Natsu greeted his twin cheerfully. "When did you get there?"

Tsuna walked in then placed a pitcher of warm tea on the table. It was already autumn after all. "Since the first zero part." He answered, sending the nervous Cavallone an amused smile. "But I listened in since the no aura part, Cavallone-san was pretty loud that I could hear you from the stairs since Natsu left the door open."

Dino paled at that, "That was pretty harsh." He commented, looking at Dino in the eye and the boss couldn't help but feel scrutinized.

It was one thing to say those stuff to Sawada Natsuhiko, and an entirely different matter when Sawada Tsunayoshi overheard him. "I… uh…"

Natsu smirked at Dino, served the bastard right for insulting him! "But you're right."

The younger twin gaped at his brother, "What?!"

Tsuna looked at Natsu with a smile that was not befitting of a brother who just agreed with someone who insulted his younger brother. "Natsu tends to charge head on first without thinking." Natsu felt an imaginary rock just fell on his head. "You also think elegant is a synonym to girly." Second imaginary rock fell on top of the first.

He couldn't deny that he did think elegant was not for macho men like him and his father.

"As for your presentation… hm… your choice of clothes are not presentable for some occasions I guess, but they're okay street clothes." That was not an insult but more like an opinion and Natsu agreed his ripped jeans was not for a mafia party. "Oh, but your uniform is indeed not proper and presentable, you should have tucked your shirt in and tightened your tie."

Natsu groaned. "We're not in school damn it! Leave my shirt and tie alone at home!"

Tsuna looked sheepish for bringing up school regulation at home. "As for your sense of anticipation." Tsuna trailed off, "You do freak out a lot."

"Whose fault was that?!" Natsu shot back. Tsuna gave him an innocent look, and for a moment Natsu almost believed his brother didn't mean to scare the shit out of him whenever the older twin appeared out of nowhere. "Whatever… but seriously brother, don't agree on everything with this bastard." Natsu growled, jerking his thumb at the dumbfounded Dino.

Tsuna frowned at Natsu, "Little brother, don't be rude! He is our guest." Tsuna chided Natsu who scoffed in response. "Besides… Cavallone-san didn't say all that with ill intentions."

That caught Dino off guard, before he realized this was Tsuna's hyper intuition at work. "Well I…"

"He is joking?" Natsu wondered out loud, giving Dino a skeptical look.

"No, he was pretty blunt and honest when he criticized you." Tsuna said cheerfully, and Natsu sweat-dropped at him. "I will not agree with him if he is joking, but I disagree that your disposition as a boss is zero."

Natsu's ears perked up at that, "Really?"

"Then again perhaps I am being biased in my opinion on my cute little brother." Tsuna added as an afterthought much to Natsu's chagrin. "But in my opinion there's no such thing as a born leader, everyone has to start somewhere…"

Dino beamed at that, he liked Tsunayoshi already but now he was developing a deep respect in this boy. "Exactly! I had no talent to become a leader! I have no charisma either." He burst into a peal of laughter.

Tsuna shook his head, "Ne… Cavallone-san." The brunette began as he stepped forward and placed the tray of tea he carried on the table. "It's a matter of perspective… leadership in my opinion is not a talent but an initiative to change to be a better person, thus inspiring those they lead to dream, to act and to achieve their goal…"

Reborn didn't miss how Dino was paying every word Tsuna spoke with great attention, and so did Natsu. _'He got them…' _

"As for charisma…" Tsuna smiled at Dino as he adjusted his glasses, "What is charisma?"

Dino cupped his chin in a thoughtful fashion, "Hm… a trait, a certain charm that compels people to be devoted to the said charismatic person."

"A good personality that makes people be in awe." Natsu guessed.

Tsuna sweat-dropped at Natsu. "Uhm… you're not really wrong but that's a pretty crude answer, Natsu." The younger twin pouted at that and then Reborn wiped that pout with a kick on the head. Tsuna turned to Dino so he didn't see Reborn kicking his brother. "As for you Cavallone-san… that's a textbook answer."

Dino rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Ha ha ha…"

Tsuna chuckled softly, "It's not my personal opinion… but a clinical psychology professor taught me that… Charisma has three points." Tsuna held up three fingers, "The nature of a hero or prophet…"

"Hero?" Natsu echoed dubiously.

Tsuna nodded, "Basically embodying righteousness and nobility…" He closed his eyes, recalling a certain white-haired demon. "Although the said righteousness and nobility is relative… but it compels people to believe that."

Reborn and Dino narrowed their eyes, _'So basically the said charismatic person could be the worse demon but people look up to him anyway…' _

"Second is the ability to simply make you feel good when you're around them…" At the confused look on Natsu's face, Tsuna elaborated. "It's not complicated… think of fans who want to get close with their idol."

"Oh…"

Tsuna folded the last finger, "Third is the intelligence to eloquently talk about all sorts of things… it's not just being smart, but also possessing the capability to share that knowledge in a way that inspires and attracts people…"

One thought ran through Natsu's mind, '_Isn't the last one perfectly __describing__ Tsuna?' _

Reborn narrowed his eyes, _'It may __not be__ his personal opinion but he __managed__ to explain those vague traits in __a __simpler way… which mean__s__ he master__ed__ the topic perfectly…' _

_'Huwaa….' _Dino groaned inwardly, _'What a guy… and I feel I have been defeated for some reason.' _He laughed softly. "Well… I don't know whether I possess any of those points, but I was pretty pathetic before I became the Cavallone boss, and under Reborn's teaching I have become the boss of 5000 famiglie now…" The Cavallone boss suddenly fell from his seat, courtesy of Reborn's deadly kick. "Reborn, what was that…" He trailed off before his eyes focused on Tsuna who was eyeing him curiously. "Ah…"

"Boss!" Romario hissed.

Natsu flailed like a fish out of water, "Uhm… what he means is…"

Tsuna clapped his hands, "You mean… five thousands of horse families?" He guessed with an innocent face. "Hm… that's amazing."

"Horse?" Natsu echoed.

"Cavallone-san is a horse breeder." Tsuna explained in an enthusiastic tone. "Our equestrian club gets most of their racing horses from Cavallone-san…"

In short their school had business relations with this Cavallone guy?!

Dino wiped the sweat that had formed on his temple, _'That was close.' _He sighed in relief. He was lulled by Tsuna's words to the point Dino forgot Tsuna was a civilian and almost spilled about Mafia.

"By the way Cavallone-san…" Tsuna's voice snapped him out of his thought, and he tensed in anticipation. "If you don't mind… I am pretty curious to know…" He trailed off and Dino gulped nervously. "Where did that big leather armchair come from?" Tsuna queried as he pointed at the black armchair Dino sat on. Then he turned to his twin, "I am pretty sure we don't have that kind of armchair, right? Natsu?"

"Heh?" Natsu eyed his twin in disbelief, _'Of all things, that's what you're curious about?!'_

* * *

><p>Looking at how Dino let his guard down around Tsuna, Reborn was forced to cancel his plan to make Dino stay at the Sawada house. So he made Natsu stay with Dino at the hotel instead of the other way around. Natsu wanted to object to the arrangement, but then again it's Reborn's order. He was not suicidal to object to it, no matter how reluctant he was.<p>

Natsu thought staying for a night at a luxurious hotel suite was not so bad. It was spacious enough for two peoples and an arcobaleno. Besides, once he knew Dino better the guy was pretty cool and a good role model. His subordinates loved him, and Dino returned their devotion with the same dedication.

He changed his mind when he found out that Dino didn't grow out of his no-good-ness completely like Tsuna. He was not amused that Reborn made all Dino's subordinates scarce and made him witness the worst of Dino's clumsiness. The guy even tripped on his own feet! Even Tsuna back then tripped on something at least!

The worse thing was that turtle pet of Dino's, he should have locked Enzo in a cage if that little turtle is dangerous. It ate the bathtub!

Not even a hotel full course breakfast helped his sour mood in the morning, especially since his mother's and brother's cooking was more delicious.

"Ne… Natsu."

Natsu paused from eating his breakfast, "Yeah?"

"About Tsunayoshi…" Dino trailed off, "Your big brother is pretty cool huh?"

Natsu pondered that statement, "Hm… maybe…"

Dino narrowed his eyes at Natsu, _'Hm… he is not the sharpest tool__in __the shed as Reborn said but he has a good character. Any other person in his place would feel insecure to have an older brother like Tsunayoshi… and yet he doesn't feel threatened… not in negative light at least.' _

"By the way Natsu, I heard from Reborn you already have two guardians… what kind of people are they?" Dino asked curiously, "Tell me about them." He already knew Basil but he wanted to know Natsu's opinion.

Natsu looked thoughtful before he answered, "Basil is a good guy… he is a little stiff and speaks funnily sometimes but he is my best friend."

Honest and simple, he liked that.

"And Chinatsu…" Natsu let out an exasperated sigh, "She is a bitch."

"Heh?" Dino blinked owlishly.

Natsu grumbled, "She has no respect for me, and even though she has a pretty face don't be fooled because…"

"Because…"

Natsu patted his chest, "Inside she has the blackest heart that perhaps is second to Reborn only."

Okay, so he had an issue with one of his guardians…

* * *

><p><strong>On the way to school <strong>

Dino and Natsu went to the Sawada's residence by car first, planning to pick up the older twin first. This was why they woke up very early. Natsu knew his brother liked to have extra fifteen minutes to walk to his class leisurely. They were on time to see Tsuna walking out of the house, with Hayato and Takeshi waiting in front of their house.

The Cavallone boss was surprised to see Hayato, he didn't know the boy personally but Hayato's father was one of the bosses, whose family was allied with the Cavallone.

"Ohayo Kaichou…" He and Takeshi greeted in unison.

"Ohayo…" Tsuna returned with a smile, "Hayato, Takeshi…" Then he turned towards Dino and Natsu who had just alighted from the car. "Oh… Ohayo to you two too… Natsu, Cavallone-san."

Dino beamed at him, "Just call me Dino… Cavallone-san makes me feel old." Tsuna looked hesitant but he relented to drop the formality before he introduced Dino to Takeshi and Hayato. Dino knew Hayato didn't need to be introduced to him, but he indulged the formality.

"Nice to meet you too… Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-kun…" Dino returned.

"Likewise..." Hayato returned coolly.

A phone rang and all attention focused on Tsuna who picked up his phone. "Why so early?" He wondered out loud, "Moshi-moshi… Yagami-san…" Tsuna frowned, "Eh? I just returned from overseas yesterday… can't you sort it out yourself?"

Natsu frowned, '_That jerk? What business __does__ he __have__ with Tsuna so early in the morning?'_

"Eh? He just arrived in Narita Airport?" Tsuna groaned, "He has no permission… so what if it's a private trip? We know it's just a cover for him…"

"Kaichou…" Hayato called him out hesitantly.

Tsuna looked very annoyed and Dino was surprised to see the boy was capable of scowling. "Fine… I will be there as soon as I can, make sure to contain that man somewhere private… I don't want to deal with Scarecrow in public. " He sighed, "Don't remind me of that… Yagami-san. I know… see you later then." Then he ended the line.

Hayato frowned at him, "I thought we're going to reject CIA's request?"

"Doesn't mean we have the right to forbid their personnel from taking a vacation in Japan." Tsuna explained with a sigh, "God knows what that man is up to… I am sorry everyone, but please go ahead to school… Hayato, I am going to delegate everything today to you and the others… if I am lucky hopefully it won't take all day." He grumbled as he walked back to their house. "And Dino-san…"

Dino was surprised he was addressed out of the blue, "Yes?"

"If you want to drop Natsu off to school, please don't wander to our school ground…" Tsuna warned the Cavallone boss, "I know it's just a harmless prank on your part, but Kyouya doesn't like outsiders… especially one he perceives as a threat."

"I see…" Dino supposed some people couldn't take a joke.

He had warned Kyouya but warnings and reprimands only went so far when the cloud was concerned. Dino in particular had a natural knack at rubbing Kyouya the wrong way. He had heard from Tetsuya that Kyouya was in a very bad mood last night and he had no wish for his cloud to unleash his fury on Dino. In the first place Kyouya had developed a strong dislike of Dino because of his parallel memory but Dino cemented that dislike to borderline hatred with threatening Tsuna. A joke or not Kyouya perceived it as a genuine threat.

* * *

><p><strong>Few Hours Later… <strong>

Natsu heard the break period's bell rang ring when his phone buzzed, as soon as the teacher left the classroom he checked his phone. He had an email from Dino-san.

_To: Natsu  
>From: Dino<br>Yo! Natsu! Can you go out of the school now?  
>Don't tell anyone though! It's Reborn's order, so make sure no one notice<span>__s__ you on the way out!  
>You and I know what Reborn would do if we fail him DX<span>_

Natsu gulped in fear, looking around to spot his friends and specifically Chinatsu and Basil. They were going to have lunch and undoubtedly Basil was going to make a beeline to him soon. Natsu quickly faked a headache and excused himself to the infirmary, assuring Basil that he needed a good rest so they could have lunch without him, and don't bother coming to visit because he was going to sleep.

Basil looked worried but as far as Natsu could tell, his best friend believed him. Natsu ran towards the infirmary as soon as he was out of Basil's sight. In the infirmary he was greeted by a doctor that for a moment he thought was a frog man since his face looked like a frog. The doctor was not green though and introduced himself as Nakano-sensei.

The doctor raised an eyebrow when Natsu lied that he had a headache but didn't comment and told Natsu to rest on any bed. If the pain was severe he would give Natsu some medicine. Natsu nodded and assured the doctor he just needed some rest. The infirmary was very spacious so they had rows of beds, it looked more like a hospital room than an infirmary. So Natsu chose the bed in the end corner of the room, close to the window.

He shut the curtain of the bed close then after a few minutes he arranged a classic pillow dummy before he used the window to escape from school and off to see what his senior was up to. Or rather what Reborn was up to, hopefully it was nothing painful.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile in Tokyo, Clamp Gakuen <strong>

Meeting with Jerry Schatzberg, more commonly known as the Scarecrow of CIA was always an exhausting affair he wanted to avoid like a plague as much as he could. When they were in a formal occasion, the Scarecrow would wear suits and remembered his manners when he needed it. However when this fair-skinned man was wearing slacks and a sport coat, a casual wear he wore when travelling around the world, manner was the first thing he threw out of the window.

"There must be something you hid in your school, pretty boy." The scarecrow sneered at him.

Tsuna smiled pleasantly at him, "My… if a CIA agent starts to suspect a junior high student of hiding something in their school, I think I should warn Bookman that their agents are slipping nowadays."

There was no need for subtlety for this man because most of the time it went over his head. Scarecrow lacked subtlety, and he was arrogant and blunt in both words and manner.

"What the hell…" The blond American hissed, "Don't get that meddling Bookman in this."

He also easily got annoyed and never had much patience.

"I didn't and I won't." Tsuna replied smoothly, "And once again Mr. Schatzberg… we have nothing to hide from you… "

"That's what they said." Scarecrow retorted.

Tsuna sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head."I don't know what you're suspecting us for… we're a private school with hundreds of students below the legal age… besides regardless of your suspicion you have nothing on legal grounds to investigate our school for and we have rejected CIA's proposal."

Scarecrow slammed his fist on the table, and thankfully the expensive china porcelain cup was intact. "You rejected it…"

"We rejected it." Tsuna corrected. "I am merely one of their representatives…"

"Whatever… but your reason for rejecting the proposal is getting on my nerves, brat! How dare you use me as an excuse!"

Tsuna rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide how troublesome he found the whole affair was.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile… <strong>

While his twin was busy dealing with the CIA, Sawada Natsuhiko was in danger of dying from boredom. Why? Reborn told him to wait in the park he and Tsuna used to play when they were young. Something about special training, and so far neither Reborn nor Dino showed up. He had tried to entertain himself with recalling his childhood memory, playing jungle gym, slide, swings and the likes. He had run out of games to entertain himself with and he really wanted to leave.

However Reborn's threat hung above him like the sword of Damocles, so he dared not step out of the playground.

There was another part of the playground that was added recently, an area for teenagers to play skateboard, rollerblade and the likes. He had been itching to try skateboarding on that challenging looking skatepark. Unfortunately he didn't have a skateboard yet, he had one but he left it in Italy. What he wouldn't give for a skateboard now…

As if summoned by his thought a black skateboard innocently rolled to the middle of the skateparks.

He blinked owlishly, "Did someone forget their skateboard?" He wondered out loud as he walked towards the skateboard, unaware of a pair of sharp blue eyes watching his every move. Natsu stopped in front of the skateboard and craned his neck to the side, "Hm… I swear I saw something white and bushy on the corner of my eyes… oh well, it's probably nothing.

The said owner of the white and bushy hair sweat-dropped at the young Vongola's naivety, and wondered if the boy was sharp or not.

* * *

><p><strong>With Reborn and Dino <strong>

As they watched Basil and Chinatsu leaving a trail of dust as running to the Momokyoukai hideout, Dino couldn't help but felt feel a little guilty for deceiving them. Then again this was a little test of loyalty and as mafia they shouldn't be deceived so easily like this. Dino supposed they were young so their naivety could be pardoned. They would learn with time anyway.

Dino crossed his arms, "By the way Reborn..." He trailed off, "Why didn't you didn't let it be to fake abducting Natsu on the way to school, that would be more convincing."

Reborn snorted, "Because by that time Tsuna was too near, if you dare to attempt such a thing you are in for a big trouble…" Dino frowned at that, "It's not obvious but this town and its people revolve around Namimori Gakuen and their council. If you attempt such a thing, this town could be turned upside down if he wants."

"Reborn…" Dino drawled, "He is a kid, he has no such authority."

Reborn nodded, "For now perhaps…" He didn't, but the grapevine of his connections went so far. Dino had no idea how many people got in line to get in Sawada Tsunayoshi's good grace, with John Black first in line. Not just for what he was not but what he was becoming in the future.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Tsuna and certain Scarecrow… <strong>

Tsuna recalled what they wrote in their formal letter to CIA. In short they regretfully refused CIA's request to investigate their schools, mainly because of Scarecrow's notorious reputation. They also hinted if it was a fair and civil investigation they had no problem with it. However if CIA put Jerry Schatzberg in charge, naturally their school became wary of the nature of this investigation.

"I am the one who smell something shady is going on in Japan… of course I am the one in charge." He snarled, jerking his thumb at his chest.

This was the reason of CIA's lax approach on this man. They gave him a lot of leeway in choosing how he operated, because he brought result. However his method was crude and almost violent, he was not an agent that could be allowed to roam in a school ground.

Tsuna pushed a stack of paper on the table towards the blond man. "We have seen your track record, and while it's impressive we cannot allow you to operate in the same way in our school… you disregard people's privacy pretty often without legal permission and while it's expected in your line of work you also prone to lose patience and resort to violence…" Tsuna listed on coolly.

Scarecrow bristled.

"And you expect us to welcome you with open arms to a school full of student with impressionable mind?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow at him. "Pardon my rudeness… but we will not betray our students and their parents' trust with allowing someone like you to prowl in our school ground… " That was the reason he and his council fired Shamal, they couldn't tolerate his quirk.

"You…"

"Our concern for the safety of our students is valid, Scarecrow…" Tsuna said pointedly. "Beside… CIA aren't exactly on the best term with us now…"

The CIA agent growled, "Brat… you have no authority over me!"

Tsuna quirked an eyebrow, "And I believe we told _your _superior who has superiority over _you_ to save their proposal as we won't even take it to consideration as long as you're the one in charge." This conversation was getting on his nerve, "We will consider if you're not…"

"And you didn't give specific deadline on how long it will take to _consider_ your decision! You purposely leave us hanging with our hands tied!" Scarecrow pointed out hotly. "You're impossible brat! Don't you care of your student's wellbeing?"

"Why do you think we rejected your presence in our school in the first place?" Tsuna retorted. "The point remains that you're breaching our territory." Tsuna stood up from his seat, "Continue your _vacation_ as you wish, but one wrong move we will have you deported back to your country." And with that Tsuna walked out of the room, ignoring Scarecrow's curse as their bodyguards held the CIA agent back from chasing Tsuna.

As if he didn't have enough problems on his plate already. But this was his chosen path, and he was going to live with it. He was the president of Namimori Student council, it was his duty.

* * *

><p><strong>THANK YOU for watching the show... Fantasy-Magician here is closing the curtain BUT before that... here some explanation of what was going on now in my story...For PAST, it's very likely we will only have ONE chapter left. ^^' By right I should have finish it here but I cave in to get another chapter as the end for past instead...<br>**

**I cant tell there would be a lot of wild mass guess for past part XDDD Just don't jump to conclusion, by now I am sure my readers know how much I LOVE misleading you. **

**PRESENT... I am sure ? is what you have in mind when you read the title... it's the English equivalent of **'that'll be the day!' **in Italian... translated 'The horse lives!' and you know we have Dino in this chapter LOL the title more or less describing Tsuna's frustration rather than the main topic of this chapter ha ha ha... or just me trying to be funny.  
>Jerry's presence at this point is an IMPORTANT plot point, he is not here just to annoy the hell out of Tsuna... <strong>

**λ...λ  
>(ºvº)<br>( ReViEw)  
>\iReVi  
>\mm  
>l : : l<br>\::/**


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Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Family, Friendship